The dragon's uprising
by Isodrink
Summary: Asbel and his group did beat the Valkines-dragons during their travel to defeat Lambda. But what would have happened if they never knew about them? If the dragons could regain some of their former power and attack Ephinea? This is a story about this conflict. Further summary in the AN. Warning: Spoiler alert. T-rating for fighting scenes and partially intense cursing in the A/N.
1. Chapter 1: The arrival of the apocalypse

**A/N:**

I normally wouldn't have bothered making a story out of it, but the images I got from this idea and the generall scenes that played out in my mind were that strong, that I had to write down a general outline of the story. Well and after that it just became too interesting to imagine all the scenes in more detail.

I encourage every single one that reads this story to write a review, even if only to tell me that my grammar/spelling at certain points sucks a lot (Though I hope you'll tell me where so I have the possibility to correct that) or that I shamelessly overuse some words abusively. I did actually run open office spell-check through it but I have a feeling that it's heavily unreliable concerning grammar and after reading through the whole thing for the third time I kind of lost the ability to see mistakes. And if you add all of this together with the fact that this is actually my first story to ever admit here, especially my first story in a foreign language ...well you get the picture. Anyway, I rather welcome any kind of criticism that shows a few suggestions for improvement. But you're free to simply drop a comment if you did or did not like the story so far.

Small warning: I found the names of the dragons to be slightly awkward to be used in conversation, so I went and named them after their Valkines. I hope it's not that much of an inconvenience to read.

Small warning 2: I read over my chapters quite often at the beginning and always find one or two things I'm not 100% happy with. Most of the time it's simply a few words or a sentence that I rephrase to fit better. So don't be surprised when you notice a few changes here and there every now and then. I have found myself unable to stop this habit of mine and I think it's slightly unnecessary to wait two weeks before I dare to post something. Especially when I'm simply going to read over it again afterwards and change a few words again anyway.

Also, I have no problem with another author writing a story somehow basing or relying on the same ideas and generall setting I use in this story. I'd just like to be informed - mainly to read the heck out of the story and see how someone else would pull of a story in that scenario ;-)

**Pairings:**

Cheria + Asbel obviously and Hubert + Pascal. To prevent confusion, since I've seen a few authors that had to deal with some questionable assumptions: This is not intended and never will be intended to contain a Asbel+Richard pairing. They are very good friends on a deep level, but that's about it. If this doesn't float your boat, well there is quite a lot of that around on this site.

**Summary:**

Setting around a year after L&L, this is mostly kind of an adventure story. It centers around the three Valkines dragons and what would have happened, hadn't the group defeated those three in their weakened form (Remember, the Valkines didn't have any Eleth and I (and this story) heavily rely on a connection between the amount of Eleth in a Valkines and the strength of its dragon) to prevent them from wreaking havoc on the world. It has a tad...screw that, it has an intense apocalyptic feeling here and there, and there is quite some destruction going on in this story. Meaning I destroy quite a lot of the original world at some point. Though most of the damage is done (or explained) after chapter 4.

Well, let's get on to the disclaimer.

**Disclaimer:**

I actually don't own shit...except this very story. Every original game-character and the world itself, as well as all the praises, offerings and other kind of worshipping belong to Namco and every other person/firm/creature that was somehow involved in the creation of this incredible game named Tales of Graces.

* * *

**Chapter 1: The dragons uprising - The arrival of the apocalypse**

Fury.

That was the only word to describe the emotions that held residence in the heart of the entity that was housed inside the great Valkines Forbrannir.

Red scales covered its mighty body, with sharp edges that would cut everyone that was dumb enough to lay hands on this awe-inspiring creature. Four razor-sharp claws, each the size of a human, were attached to every single one of its four limbs, making a great pair with his equally sharp, but only half as big teeth.

Fury was what fueled the increased recharge speed of the Valkines, increasing the power of the dragon with the same name all the same. Two years it had waited, until it was sure that it had recovered enough to do what it had to do. Two years after those arrogant humans had dared to steal the Eleth that had been stored inside of Forbrannir over the course of hundreds of years. What had happened was a sin beyond words and needed retribution. Not only because it harmed the dragon, but also because Eleth was the very core of every living thing. Stealing it meant destroying infinite potential lives that yet had to form themselves. In a way, humanity had dared to attack a Valkines as well as its guardian and also had slaughtered countless lives without any purpose.

Its blood boiled at the thought. They were going to pay for this with their lives. Ephinea would be a better place without them.

The light inside the Valkines, that seemed to come from every place inside it at once, flickered slightly as the mighty creature lifted its majestic, red wings. The time for waiting was over. The Valkines was recharged and its own power, though still much lower than before the drainage, was at least partially restored. Now it had to do what had to be done. A beastly scream left its mouth that would have terrified anyone who would have been able to hear it. Seconds passed in silence. Then, faintly, the dragon could hear other screams, as if in far distance, answering its own.

And Forbrannir grinned.

* * *

Outside of the Valkines, the Fendelian scientists were confused. They had been observing the Amarcian machinery that heated water for the population in Fendel when Forbrannir had started to emit an intense, crimson red light. While it was a beautiful sight to behold, its sudden appearance didn't make sense to any of the scientists. The light became brighter every second, alarming the scientists who registered the steadily increasing Eleth output of Forbrannir. The temperature in the room increased until it was nearly unbearable as the output reached dangerous heights. But before any of the people there had the chance to notice that this was the least of their problems, a sudden, fiery explosion burned them to ash.

* * *

"These storms are starting to become really dangerous," said Asbel Lhant, current lord of the Lhant region in Windor.

He was young and barely had passed 21 winters. Too young in the eyes of many, to reign a whole dukedom. But there was a wisdom in his eyes, one clear blue, one deep purple, that surpassed his own years by far and silenced most of the complaints. It was the wisdom of a man who had faced many battles, seen all the wonders of the world, faced betrayal and hurt in large amounts and survived against all odds, repeatedly. It were these eyes, that looked out of his study in lahnt manor with concern in them, as the morning wind blew through the city with strength that nearly pulled trees out of the earth. His body, still wearing his own unique knight academy uniform, turned to look at the second person in his chair in the dim-lit study. Most would have found the gesture of sitting in the chair of a lord in his own study quite outraging. But how could Asbel possibly turn down a wish from his own wife, Cheria Lhant.

"The storm will soon be over Asbel, don't worry," answered her soft voice.

She was dressed in the attire she had worn ever since she had met Asbel for the first time after seven years of separation. She always had to snicker when she remembered how she had no idea why she decided to wear these clothes back then and had been slightly self-conscious about them. Especially when a small breeze let her notice just how much shorter that skirt actually was than it looked. Afterwards, during their fights against Lambda she had just never seemed to have the time to really change her attire. Well and after that, all she wanted was simply to catch Asbel's eye, which her outfit seemed to do for her. A power she had observed a few times during their traveling together.

She noticed that her words didn't have the desired effect when he turned to watch the window again. Calmly she stood up, making her pink hair whip a little, walked in front of him and wrapped her arms around his waist, in a loving and intimate embrace. A small shiver rushed through his body as her soft brown eyes locked with his. This led a smile across her face while his muscles relaxed and returned her embrace. She loved the way she could affect this strong man, who had the confidence to confront worlds solely for what he believed in was right. Even after a year of marriage he still couldn't get rid of these small things, which maybe was a good sign.

"Still it is...strange. The spring storms have never been that strong before."

"It will be fine. We always had a few stronger storms in spring. It just appears that this year there will be more of them."

Asbel really hoped she was right. Still, he had this small feeling of foreboding, as if something just around the corner prepared to bring chaos in his finally peaceful live. He had no desire for that. In fact, he could do without a major adventure for a while, as his memories of his struggle against Fodra were still somewhat fresh, even after over a year. Not to mention the fight against Lambda. His life had just finally gotten settled. And with Cheria and Sophie around, time just flew by. Not that he didn't have other things to do. His job as a lord proved to be quite stressful, but it gave him some kind of fulfillment, like he had finally found the place he belonged.

"Have you heard of Hubert and Pascal lately?" he tried to change the topic of conversation to something more uplifting.

Talking about the crazy amarcian women and his little brother always lifted his spirits a bit. After the adventure on Fodra, the two had eventually become a couple and... oh boy, what a couple. How exactly Hubert managed to get it through Pascals incredibly dense head that he loved her was a miracle that none understood except the two of them. It didn't help that the pair refused to talk about it, though their reactions to the questions were quite different. They usually made Hubert wear his most intense form of crimson on his face as he became a stuttering mass of nervousness, while it placed a bigger than normal goofy smile on Pascal's face when she answered with a finger placed on her lips to signal silence with a knowing wink. The only thing Asbel could ever find out was that it somehow involved a few cherries and lots of bananas and that he wasn't really sure if he wanted to know how exactly they were involved.

Anyway, those two simply were made for each other, even if the political world in Strahta seemed to think otherwise. It had made for quite a scandal when Hubert downright refused the marriage proposal made by the president, with Pascal at his side.

"Well, nothing dramatic in the last few days. At least nothing too dramatic. I mean, it's Pascal were talking about. She does something crazy every couple of days. Yesterday she wrote that she blew a small hole in the ruins around Duplemar when she went there visiting with this robot-copy of yours. Guess the cooling system she added to him didn't really endure that much heat."

They both snickered at the image of a smiling Pascal explaining to the Strahtan military why exactly her robot just blew up. And the military personnel, as they couldn't make sense of a single word the Amarcian said. It really took some time to understand this woman.

Silence was their companion as they stood there embracing each other, both of them enjoying being near the other. It was all too soon interrupted as Bailey rushed through the door.

"My lord! It's urgent! A giant green dragon is attacking Barona!"

* * *

Half of the Lhant military was ready for departure within an hour after Asbel issued the command, while Asbel and Cheria equipped their old, but still useable battle gear. For Asbel that simply meant exchanging his normal sword for day-to-day use with the sword of his father - The eleth sword Excalibur. Having acquired it a few years ago during his fight against Lambda, it was still just as sharp as the day he had it repaired. It's sheath, still colorful as if to spite its incredible age, felt cool and smooth against his skin as he attached it to his belt.

Cheria simply got her dagger, which she used for her attacks, by making short-lived replicates of it with the eleth surrounding her and throwing them. She kept it hidden beneath her clothes, since skin contact to the replicated object was needed for the process. And it was always better to give enemies less information. It also had the perk of letting her husband imagine where she could hide such a dangerous weapon, something she kept very well hidden from him. A relationship needed some secrets after all.

After having equipped everything and a few small kisses, they turned and left the manor to stand in front of the already assembled troop of soldiers.

Most of them couldn't really believe the civil messenger, that had apparently set sail in the early afternoon to get to Lhant in spite of the storm around Barona. He had been well on his way when the creature had appeared and let him witness the attack from a far distance. But it was not this quite incredible amount of luck that the soldiers had trouble believing in. Rather, it was the content of the message. Sure, they did know wyrms existed despite not having ever seen one. But a wyrm that was around the size of four to five houses? There had to be some imagination in this message. However, none of them would refuse their lord, especially one they respected so much; even though most of that was due to Lord Aston's good leadership. Still, they placed great hopes in his son.

Asbel and Cheria, as well as half of the soldiers, would depart to Barona through the roads to Gralesyde and a messenger was sent forward to Duke Dalen to inform him of their intrusion and their reason. The storm around Lhant's coasts was too strong to risk traveling via boat. It might have saved them a few hours but would sooner lead to their own demise instead of saving them time. The intrusion via land however could be seen as an affront to the Duke, but Asbel was sure he would forgive that. Dalen might not be his friend, but both of the lords treated each other with great respect since the Fodra adventure. And they also trusted each other to a certain amount, which was a somewhat uncommon relationship between the local lords. However, inwardly Asbel dreaded if those few hours they lost by traveling through the Duke's lands could, in the end, decide the fate of the life of his best friend, Richard. He didn't like worrying for the life of his friend. However, it calmed his nerves to know that Sophie was there, having gone to visit Richard for a while just before the storm had started. Sophie, despite having merely the looks of a teenager, was one of the strongest fighters in the kingdom; maybe even the world. It added to his worries that she was in danger as well, but he was confident that the two of them would make it.

As they made their way through the streets to Gralesyde, with him and Cheria at the top of the military, questions about this threat to Barona came up in his mind. What was this wyrm? Where did it come from? And especially: Why did it attack Barona? Why now, after the kingdom finally had found peace?

His questions went on as they traveled further, the wind blowing directly in their face as if to stop them. Fortunately, all of his soldiers were quite strained by marching against this force of nature and warmed by the energy they used up. Otherwise most of them would've started to shiver within a few minutes as the wind stole their heat with each blow. They reached Gralesyde city after far too long for Asbel's taste, the sun already slightly after its peak, signaling that the mid of the day had just passed. However, they wouldn't rest here. He commanded his men to march through the city without rest. They could not make a stop here while their king's life was in danger. His plans were to march the whole way to the capital with a small stop in front of the capital itself. That would mean that he wouldn't give the Duke a small visit to explain the threat for Richard and his own behavior further, but time was running out, he just knew it. He could not dare to waste it. But his plans changed when he received a surprising message. Though it wasn't the message that surprised him, but rather the messenger.

"Asbel!" he had barely turned when a purple-headed mass threw itself at him. Purple eyes, Sophie's eyes, looked at him with a happy expression.

"Sophie!" he added, just as well happy to see his adoptive daughter and friend again.

She looked enchanting. Her purple hair flowed behind her like a waterfall, following her every movement gracefully. Fitting for her height, she wore a modified version of the white dress she had worn after they defeated Fodra. Chainmail cushioned with leather was hidden underneath the soft outer cotton layer. Despite weighing the same as a small adult, the heavyness of the dress-armor didn't show in her movement. They were as graceful as ever since the moment she had fused with the Little Queen. But besides the enchanting hair and her graceful movement the little queen had given her several other gifts. Sophie was now, as far as all the others were concerned, a complete human being. Despite that, several of her humanoid characteristics did remain, such as her physical and magical powers and her body being unaffected by the passage of time.

Her ways of expressing emotions had increased to an astonishing amount, and she herself had said, that everything now felt more intense to her. And ever since her fusion she also had a little glow around her that managed to draw other people in and raise their spirits.

This effect wasn't lost on Asbel. It relieved him to see her again and for a moment he wanted nothing more than to hug her longer and smile, all his worries about her gone. But after a small pause of relief, he started to add "what are you doing here? I thought..." He was quickly interrupted.

"Asbel, we have to go to Wallbridge! We ran from the capital but monsters attacked us. Richard is protecting the people who went with him. But he needs our help!"

Asbel needed a few seconds to react, but before he could utter a single word, Cheria, who was at his side, had already turned to the soldiers and raised her voice in a tone that allowed no disobedience.

"Soldiers, we need to move faster! We have to help the king!"

They agreed with a shout and increased their pace. Their surprise at the way the lords wife was able to be so commanding had long ago disappeared, though it never ceased to surprise Asbel. Before, everyone had been so used to her being rather kind and helping and always a bit uneasy from the years before the Lambda incident. During Cheria's relationship with her now-husband however, that had rapidly changed. And even if this confidence was rarely demonstrated via commands, it still showed just how much she had developed in those years from the nice girl next door to the proud woman at the lord's side. Or sometime it was the lord that was at her side, depending on the circumstances.

As they continued the now quickened march, Sophie told Asbel and Cheria what had happened in more detail. Apparently, Barona's Valkines Gloandi had started to emit a strange light the day before. Everyone in the city had wondered what that meant and if it stood in relation to the sudden increase of winds and storms all over Windor, but otherwise didn't pay any particular attention to it. Later on, several pressure waves, as if from an incredible explosion, had raged through the city, destroying most of it in an instant and hitting the citizens of Barona completely unprepared. Many people died in this moment, before they even had the chance to understand what hit them. But before the survivors could do what the dead could not, a giant green dragon had appeared above Gloandi, accompanied by groups of smaller dragons, or rather wyrms. It had watched the city for a moment and then started to attack, flying over the town and setting everything on fire with his breath, fueled by strong winds. These winds had followed the dragon everywhere and tossed and turned everything that got in its way, proving to be much more dangerous than the fire itself by smashing several people against the ruins of the city. And in the parts the green dragon didn't pay attention to, his smaller but still dangerous companions wreaked havoc.

Richard had very few moments to react and he had done the only thing that seemed reasonable in this state: Evacuate the city, rescuing as many people's live as possible and retreating via land to Gralesyde. With what was left of the guards and every other still existing and available fighting force he had, he protected his people as they made their way out of town, always fighting against wyrms that wanted to stop these humans from fleeing. Luckily, while they had made their way out of Barona, the green dragon didn't seem to follow them. Still, the soldiers had their hands full fighting the smaller wyrms on their way to Wallbridge, dead set to prevent these wyrms from exterminating every human in sight. Sophie ,who had initially helped the soldiers, had been sent to Gralesyde to ask for reinforcements the moment they reached Wallbridge, since she could move faster than anyone else. And in fact, it had only been a few minutes for her when she had reached Gralesyde and a surprised Asbel.

As if to back Sophie's words up when the bridge-fort came in sight, a stream of people started to pass them, all of them running as fast as their legs could carry them, while looking behind their backs every now and then as if there was an invisible threat out to kill them. None of them slowed down when they saw the small Lhant army approaching. Most of them were still too shocked to speak, and apparently, the danger was not too far behind them. However, the grief and the pain that was carved in their faces, with the occasionally pleading look in their eyes when they passed the Lhant army, told the Lord of Lhant more than any of their words could have.

He wanted nothing more now but to run at top speed to his kings and friends side, but he had to tell his army what they had to expect and how to approach the threat. Asbel had already fought a wyrm or two in his lifetime and maybe his words would save a few lives, even if he wasn't really good at speeches to raise the moral.

"Men!" Asbel began and then quickly corrected himself "And women. Ahead of us lies Wallbridge. King Richard is fighting in there against the monsters that attacked Barona. We have to protect his majesty at all costs. Drive away the wyrms. They are dangerous and strong, so do not take them lightly at any moment. Always approach one in a group of at least three. Keep them constantly under attack. Evade their attacks whenever possible. Pay attention if they want to breathe fire! Now, go!"

With these words he turned and sprinted to the fort, quickly followed by Sophie and Cheria, their troops not far behind them. He should be damned if Richard got killed now, just when he was nearly by his side.


	2. Chapter 2: Of guilty thoughts

**Disclaimer:**The world didn't change all that much within the last 24 hours so... nope, still don't own shit. The game-characters and the world itself are all property of Namco&friends, not mine. I simply call the story itself mine. And since I'm not Namco, the story is mine with copyright and everything, though the characters are not.

**Chapter 2: Of guilty thoughts and (un)happy reunions**

A war cry escaped from Asbel's lips as his sword cut through the wing of a wyrm that had approached his king. Distracted by defending against another of these monsters, Richard had not noticed the threat. His face turned when he heard the sound of a familiar voice and a small smile crossed his face, while his sword attack was reflected by the hard stomach scales of his enemy.

"Why does it not surprise me to see you when I am just about to die again?" the blonde asked and barely evaded the tail of his enemy as it spun in a circle to smash him against a wall. His voice sounded slightly weary, though he masked it with great skill. Richard really was happy to see his friend again after all, but he was also tired after hours of defending against the wyrms when they had attacked repeatedly. They hadn't given him any real room to rest since he left the city.

"I don't know, but maybe you should tell your fate that it should stop sulking and deal with you being alive already. It's becoming a hassle to convince it otherwise every time we meet."

Asbel smirked. Then he emitted another cry, jumped and pierced the head of the one-winged wyrm lying on the ground with Excalibur, crashing through the thick skull of the beast like it was nothing. Electric sparks glimmered in the air around him.

Meanwhile Richard raised his rapier, the head directly pointing at his enemy and ran towards the wyrm. It had leaned slightly backwards to draw in breath for a deadly attack that would roast his enemy alive. Just as the wyrm was about to let loose his fiery breath, the king stabbed it right through the heart, crashing through a scale he had damaged earlier in the fight. With a stifled shout, the wyrm fell to the ground and died. Their foes dead, Asbel and Richard now had room for a small breather to judge the situation.

The rest of Richard's soldiers were reduced greatly in number, less than a hundred were still standing; even less of them fighting. Some of them had simply given in to their fear, standing motionless and in shock against their terrifying enemies. On the corner of his eyes Asbel saw a man that was bathed in the fiery breath of a wyrm, while a female soldier beside him drove her sword in the neck of the creature. They wouldn't have been able to withstand these monsters much longer, Asbel realized. He again had barely come in time to save his friend. With the reinforcements from Lhant however, the tide turned and soon it was the wyrms who were driven back.

In front of them, Cheria and Sophie did what they could to support their troops. Cheria performed healing spell after healing spell while throwing myriads of daggers in every direction. Miraculously, all of them only hit wyrms, though many of them were repelled by the unusual hard scales of the dragon-like creatures. But a few managed to get past these scales or hit softer scaled places. And when they hit, they were devastating. The elegance of her movement was fascinating to watch, even in lethal moments. This reminded the lord of Lhant of yet another reason why he loved the women: Everything she did was either elegant or cute in his eyes. In this case, definitely the former.

He could not say the same about Sophie. Not that she didn't have any elegance in her movement. A normal human simply could not see it since she moved faster than the eye could follow. Like a whirlwind she rushed through the battlefield, evading every attack from enemies that managed to notice her in time. Her powerful punches and kicks caused bones to crack and skulls to be crushed. It was a frightening sight, especially when she could look so kind and fragile herself.

With regained courage the rest of the Guard, Asbel and Richard rejoined the fighting. The wyrms only lasted a few more minutes against the joined forces of Lhant and Barona. Then the fight was over, with a few surviving wyrms flying back towards the capital.

Cheria and Sophie, though still out of breath from the fighting, immediately went to tend the more seriously wounded on the ground with healing spells. Meanwhile, Asbel and Richard, along with the un- or less wounded soldiers sat down slightly apart from the healers and their patients. They would take a few minutes to block out what had happened just to rest a bit and regain their composure.

With a tree as backrest, the two first took a moment to relax in silence, which allowed Asbel to finally get a better look at his friend. Richard's clothing style hadn't changed all that much in the past year. A white shirt adorned with vertical stripes beneath a small black coat, together with blue trousers and way too long leather boots that reached far above the knees. Topped off with a black cloak, Richard looked just like he remembered him from his last visits. Though some subtle wrinkles were new, as well as the circles under his eyes. But he guessed they were to be expected after this day.

"One day, Asbel, I will be forced to ask you how you always manage to be there when I need you the most."

Richard's voice broke the silence as he tiredly shifted his back a bit against the tree in a more comfortable position, his usual tone including a subtle mocking that did not go unnoticed by Asbel.

"And I will be forced to blame it all on fate, destiny and Cheria." shot Asbel quickly back as he did the same, a grin imprinted on his face.

"Cheria?" Richard turned his head slightly and gave him a confused look.

"Well, I don't think it's unreasonable to place her on the same scale as fate and destiny, do you, your majesty?" answered Asbel with a dead serious voice while looking in her direction, observing her healing a nasty burn wound on the back of one of his soldiers.

Richard snickered.

"Yes, I agree with you. Though I wish you would stop with the titles. I consider you family and we both know that I'm your big brother. I want you to address me like that."

Asbel made a small grimace. Ever since he had made that joke with Richard, imitating the way Hubert called him "brother", his friend didn't let it slide and brought it up at nearly every occasion. It seemed to give him some satisfaction to be seen as Asbel's older brother, even if only inside their small group. It was annoying for Asbel, but it was kind of fun, so he nearly always played along.

Just when Asbel was about to show off his best Hubert-imitation, that had been refined by years of practice, an approaching officer interrupted their banter. The soldier began a formal greeting towards both the lord and his majesty, giving them both time to stand up. Then he gave them a report about the situation. Apparently, around half of the guards Richard had brought with him, were still alive, around ninety or so in total numbers. A quarter of the remaining troops had potential, or actual, lethal wounds that needed to be tended to by a healer. The losses on Lhant's side were small in comparison, but they still had lost some good men that day.

This part of the report filled the heart of both leaders with sadness. It would be Asbel's job to explain to the families in Lhant why their husband, wife, relative or friend would not be with them when they came back. Richard didn't envy his friend for this part of his duty, though he would like to do it himself for his own soldiers. It was the least he wished to do for them. But they were too many in numbers to pull that off and as disrespectful as it seemed to the king for the great services they had done, a letter and the apologies of another one of his subjects would have to do. If he was even able to locate the family in the current situation. The capital itself was lost and shattered. Every remaining military force that didn't seem to have mixed with the guards and seemed to have stayed in the capital was declared dead. They couldn't have possibly survived the constant wind and fire onslaught, combined with the attacks of the smaller wyrms. This included the knight academy and the cadets that were not among the soldiers.

Asbel felt a small stab in his heart when he heard that one of his former teachers, Major Victoria, was most likely dead. He had respected her greatly.

But all of this was forgotten when the report moved on to the civil losses. Richard and his guards had paid a high price, so that slightly less than one thousand people could survive. It might have looked like a big number, but apparently it was only a small fraction of the inhabitants of Barona. Paleness overcame Richard as the report continued and it seemed like he was not able to listen any further.

"Not even a tenth." heard Asbel his "big brother" whisper breathlessly into the air, "I was not able to save even one tenth of my people ..."

The shock about the countless dead on both military and civilian side caused him to take a few steps backs and lean against the tree again.

In summary, Barona had just been obliterated. The city was left in ruins, occupied by an enemy with unknown, but so far terrifying strength and the overall population of Windor had suffered a heavy blow in one single day.

This left Windor effectively without a capital. And with a power vacuum that could lead to civil war within Windor if Richard didn't act fast to prevent any action of some of the arrogant nobles that sniffed the chance of greater position. Asbel wouldn't want to be in Richard's skin right now. The political turmoil in Lhant left him more than once with a headache even when he tried to keep it simple. He couldn't possibly imagine what went through Richard's head right now. Especially after what he had just gone through.

Asbel snapped out of his thoughts when Richard took a step forward, again with the face of a king; strong, confident and determined. It was a mask he wore all too often when he had to reign his country.

"Tell the soldiers that we will stay here until nightfall to tend the wounded. Then we'll march back to Gralesyde. Every person that is still in need of medical attention by that time shall be carried by the remaining that can stand. Send a messenger to inform Duke Dalen that I want an audience with him when we arrive. Also ask him kindly to prepare for our arrival. I want them to have beds waiting for us if possible."

His commanding tone trembled a bit and was not as convincing as usual, but one would have to look and hear very closely to notice.

With an "As you wish, your majesty" the officer turned and went to the troops to spread the orders. Alone again with his friend, Richard let the mask of the king drop, just slightly. A few minutes went by as they did nothing else but look at the situation around them in silence, both lost in thoughts.

"It is a hard time to be king right now, Asbel," started the king suddenly, a heaviness in his voice that was quite rare.

"Tell me, is this fate's revenge for almost destroying Ephinea? Am I not forgiven for what I have done? Or is it a twisted joke made to amuse the great entities? I feel so...tired...worn out..."

He didn't need to say any more of the guilt that had eaten away at him constantly over the years. His friend understood, he understood all too well. Asbel turned to look Richard in the eyes, determination glimmering in them. He wanted to make a point.

"Richard, you need to... no you _must _stop blaming yourself for the past. As ridiculous as it sounds, all of it was made possible by circumstance. It is not your fault all of this happened. Everyone bears their part of the guilt; Sophie, me, Lambda, Emeraude. Heck, I guess even Malik and Hubert feel responsible for it. You are _not_ alone with your burden and you are _not_ the one to bear it alone. _Always _remember that. Both you and Lambda, have suffered more than you deserve"

Silence came after these words and Richard found himself unable to endure Asbel's look any longer. He knew his friend would say that. It comforted him to know that the Lord of Lhant had not changed one bit since the last time they traveled. It warmed his thoughts to know that they still were just as good friends as they ever were. But still, the words didn't manage to drive away his guilt completely. The king still felt responsible for what he'd let the world go through. For what he had done to his own people. For not resisting and controlling the feelings that had burned inside of him, amplified by the entity that now held residence inside Asbel.

"I...guess I agree with you," came his answer after a few seconds.

Both knew that Richard was not wholly convinced, but Asbel would let it slide. For now.

"How is he faring?" asked the king quietly. Asbel didn't need a name to know who his friend meant.

"He's still sleeping right now. Guess he needs all the energy he has to keep Fodra in check. I haven't noticed him doing anything since then. Sometimes I wonder if he's really still there..."

Heavy silence fell between the two of them, before Asbel finally started to talk again.

"Anyway, what kind of monster was it that attacked you in Barona? I heard Sophie talking about it, but I can hardly imagine anything like it. Was it really that big?"

Relieved by the change of topic Richard let out a small sigh.

"Even more than you can imagine Asbel. This was no monster. It was a force of nature. I have seen it trampling through walls as if they were made of paper while the winds that accompanied it ripped the rest of it asunder. You would think that the wyrms were bad enough, but this... thing would have sufficed to destroy all of Windor by itself."

It didn't surprise him when he saw doubt in his friend's eyes.

"I guess it would be better if I just showed you." He concluded.

Confused by the words, Asbel tilted his head.

"What do you mean sho...Wait! You're not thinking about sneaking off to Barona with me now, are you?"

"What better way to estimate the enemy's strength than to watch him directly? It is not as if I would be in danger. We would be watching from a safe distance and I would have you by my side after all, the hero of Ephinea and Lord of Graces," he said, the usual mocking undertone in Richards voice reappearing with the last few words.

A small shudder crawled down Asbel's back as Richard mentioned his last title. It was an official honorary title, given to him by Richard after everyone had recovered from the Lambda incident. There had been a small ceremony and everything, but that wasn't the reason he shuddered.

At the knight academy, there had been small tests to check the grace and elegance in the fighting style of the pupils. They weren't a big deal usually, but they were the only tests Asbel had dreaded like no other. He had never been one for fancy movements or stances in battle, even if they provided some advantage to a certain degree by hiding what kind of attack one would use next. His usual, rather rough style normally got the job done and his natural elegance, only comparable to a transportation turtle trying to do ballet, made it all but hard to embarrass himself in front of everyone. After the first few evaluations, his clumsiness while trying to appear graceful had given him the ironic byname "Lord of Graces" by some of the other cadets. Though they mostly used it in a few good natured jokes when he was around, Asbel hadn't liked the name all that much.

Knowing Richard and the amount of teasing he would have to endure if his friend ever found out, he had hoped with every fiber of his being that this news would never reach him. Time had passed and Asbel had nearly forgotten about it. But then his hopes had been shattered during the ceremony in the moment he looked into the knowing eyes of his friend. Richard had simply loved to bring it up occasionally ever since and it never failed to make Asbel flush a bit and confuse everyone that did not now about the inside joke.

This time the title again didn't fail to color Asbel's cheeks, but it also relaxed him that Richard was still able to joke around a bit. It showed him that his friend really would be able to deal with the situation, even if what had happened was present in his mind.

"Well, I guess I'll have to agree with you if you put it that way," he answered with a resigned sigh.

Richard made his way to inform his officers that he would be stretching his legs for a while and that no one was to come looking for him, while Asbel informed Cheria and Sophie of his plans. Both initially insisted on coming with him, but it didn't take much to convince them that they were needed in Wallbridge and that Richard and Asbel would be back soon. With this they made their way to the outskirts of Barona.

* * *

The sight in front of the two men was shocking for Asbel. With wide opened eyes he watched as a massive green dragon flew in circle above the capital, occasionally breathing fire at the city. Against the setting sun, the Lord of Lhant could see green and white scales shine in awe-inspiring fashion. Had the creature the scales belonged to not been so dangerous, it would have been a wonderful sight. And not only that. Richard had been right. This thing wasn't big; it was a giant. Three to four houses long and two houses in height had not been an exaggeration. Rather, it had been an understatement. This dragon was nearly big enough to reach the highest tower of the castle. And that was damn big.

Even from a far distance, Asbel could feel a notable increase in the wind's strength. He didn't even want to imagine what would happen if he were to stand in front of the dragon. He also couldn't imagine how Richard had managed to stay calm enough to pull through with his evacuation plan while being confronted with such a monster of a wyrm. Fighting it was not an option. Nothing they currently had at their disposal would be strong enough to even reach the dragon, much less harm him. Especially without Lambda's power. They hadn't been able to use them ever since he went to sleep with the angry part of Fodra's consciousness.

Still slightly shocked that something like this could even exist Asbel retreated, followed by Richard. "How is this even possible?" Asbel whispered.

"That, my friend, is a question I have asked myself countless times since this morning."

'Was it really this morning?' Richard wondered as he said these words. It seemed like weeks had passed in these few hours.

Asbel shock his head slightly, still in disbelieve, as they made their way back to Wallbridge.

"But there has to be a way. Maybe we can communicate..."

Richard interrupted.

"Even if the dragon understands us, do you think we will be able to negotiate with it? Why should it? We are of no importance to it, otherwise it would not have... eradicated the whole city."

Richard made a small stop before he said the last few words. It was still hard for him to wrap his head around the fact that the former capital was now nothing more than ruins.

"But we have to do something. Someone has to know...well, something..." Asbel's shoulders dropped slightly. Then his face lit up.

"Hey! What about Pascal? Maybe she can help!"

A small glimmer of hope reappeared in his voice. There wasn't much that the Amarcian women didn't know. Surely she could help them!

Hectically he pulled out the communication device the group used to send messages among themselves, even if they couldn't see each other. Pascal had built and sent one to Lhant manor a few month ago as well as to Malik in Fendel. Since Asbel never was too far away from Richard, Cheria and Sophie as well as Pascal being nearly inseparable from Hubert, all of them could talk to each other if necessary. With a final click he finished his message and watched the small bird like ball disappear into the distance. Now, all that was left to do was wait.

* * *

The soldiers had already been preparing for departure when Asbel and Richard had returned from their excursion. Another officer had given them a small report about the current situation. With four exceptions, all of the soldiers would be able to walk on their own to Gralesyde. Two of them suffered from heavy burn wounds that didn't allow them to walk but were otherwise fine and not in any lethal danger. The other two luckily wouldn't die anytime soon as well. Both of them had gotten the bones in one of their legs shattered to the point that it couldn't be saved and it would have to be amputated. However, that would be the job of the local doctors and not their healers. Ironically the soon-to-be one-legged female and her partner had fought the same wyrm when the beast had decided to do a surprising tail spin. Needless to say that both had been too slow to react.

A tired looking Cheria and Sophie greeted Asbel and Richard when they approached the area that formerly had been occupied by the wounded. In Cheria's case however it was more accurate to say that she rather fell clumsily in Asbel's arms instead of greeting him. The hours of casting healing spells had been quite taxing on her and she wanted nothing more than a nice warm bed, in a nice warm room with a nice warm husband to snuggle against. And finally a break from that constantly annoying wind. She really looked forward to their arrival in Gralesyde. Sophie herself didn't seem all that weary, but her quite amazing constitution seemed worn out enough that she didn't seem to feel like talking.

Hence, the march to Gralesyde had been a quiet one. In Gralesyde Richard had quickly wished his companions a good night and went off to meet Duke Dalen. Asbel originally wanted to go with him, but two brown eyes had denied his request before he could even voice it. Cheria Lhant wanted to go to bed, with him by her side and she wanted to do that _now_, no buts allowed. Being tired himself and in no mood to argue with her, Asbel quickly gave in. Besides, the chance of a comfortable bed after this harsh day had quite some appeal by itself. He'd let Richard fill him in on the meeting in the morning and apologize to the Duke afterwards. Surprisingly, instead of Asbel, Sophie decided to go with Richard. She said that she didn't feel tired and didn't want to leave Richard alone just yet. She got a small good night kiss from her father and mother, then she rushed in the direction of the Duke's house.

"Well, I guess that leaves just the two of us. Guess we can head to bed early then," said Asbel as his eyes followed his adoptive daughter until she was out of sight. Unsure, he turned to face his wife who rewarded him with a satisfied smile at the words. Together they hurried to the inn and into their already prepared room. Asbel's last thoughts afterwards before he drifted into warm, comforting sleep were rather dark ones. How could they possibly hope to survive in the face of such a threat?

* * *

**A/N:**

I know I posted the first chapter around 24 hours ago but damn, that took longer than anticipated. I thought I had written most of the chapter yesterday as well but...seems like it was more around 50% in the end. Again, feedback in any way is appreciated. At the moment, especially about the Asbel + Cheria relationship.

So... first fight, first appearance of bigger dialogues and first meeting with one of the three enemies! Damn what a fat ass. Oh, and the group finally got their beloved Blondie. No, I meant that other Blondie, not Malik.

And don't be surprised if the phrasing of the end in this chapter changes slightly until tomorrow. I'm still not happy about it but I've thought about it for an hour now without any productive output... damn sentences =/

Anway, may all of you have a nice day if you make it this far in the A/N and thanks for reading ;)

**Update 11.04:** This chapter is now beta-proofread!


	3. Chapter 3: Work, worries and a mother

**Disclaimer:**

Once upon a time there was an Isodrink. And he owned Namco and all the other companies that created Tales of Graces. And he had lots of money and he was happy. Sadly, he had to wake up to realize that all of that had been a dream. In sad, sad and unfair reality, Isodrink didn't own shit. The only thing he did own was a slightly exaggerated imagination which he used to create this story, basing on the work of Namco&Co which he did and still does not own ( he didn't own their work as well, most sadly). Therefore: Story = mine. Characters and everything else in the story based on the game Tales of Graces = Namco's.

* * *

**Chapter 3: Work, worries and an overprotective mother**

Nervously Asbel took another look at Pascals device, to be sure he hadn't missed any incoming message. It showed him the same thing it had the countless times before: "No new messages". Frustrated, he continued walking in circles around his room, just like he had done the hour before. It was a silly thing to do, sure, since he could not possibly miss anything. The appearance of the ball-bird was far too flashy for that. Still, he couldn't help himself. Impatiently he had waited for Pascal's message ever since he woke up. Being completely clueless and without a plan was something that nearly drove him mad, especially if there wasn't anything to do at the moment.

Cheria had left earlier, saying that she wanted to check on the wounded. She had offered him to accompany her, but he had kindly declined. He knew she would eventually have to watch after the two soldiers of Lhant who both had lost a leg yesterday.

Both legs had been shattered by a tail-spin attack by one of the wyverns and a doctor had amputated it later, after they had reached Gralesyde. Asbel wasn't sure if he was ready for the silent accusations that would be in the room, even if he would be the only one to make them. He wasn't even sure if he was ready to face any of the consequences of yesterday's battle.

Instead, he had gone to Richard's quarters inside Duke Dalen's mansion to talk to his old friend. Surprised, he had found a message waiting for him, telling him that the king was already in another meeting with the Duke to plan what had to happen in the future to prevent any political complications, what they should do about Barona's refugees, how to prepare for possible future attacks and lots of other stuff Asbel couldn't remember.

Something about that had irritated Asbel. Maybe because he, as the lord of Lhant, should be present in this meeting as well since he already was in Gralesyde. Didn't Richard want him to help? Was there something going on?

But he quickly dismissed these thoughts. It was more likely that Richard simply didn't want to bore him to death and therefore hadn't informed him of this meeting instead of wanted to exclude Asbel from his political plans. And after reminding himself, that the meeting also most likely contained politics on a level that would make his head explode, the lord didn't mind it all that much.

However, it still left him with nothing to do at the moment because the only other companion he could have turned to was still asleep. The meeting yesterday had dragged on for far too long for Sophie to be up right now. When she had finally retreated towards the inn, the first rays of sunlight had already touched the surface. Looking back, she hadn't done all that much. In fact she had sat on a chair in Duke Dalen's study most of the time, only listening and by doing that, learning about politics. She had also tried to show Richard some emotional support with a warm smile and reassuring glances whenever he looked her way. He seemed like he could use it. Though she had been mostly passive, the sober looks at the catastrophic situation eventually had begun to scratch at even her emotional stamina. By the time she had returned to the inn, she had been very happy to lie down and let the sorrows of the world rest for a bit.

Therefore, Asbel did not know what to do. Even worse, worries had started to crawl in his mind. Pascal usually wasn't one to wait with an answer. Surely she had been awake at some point between yesterday and now. So why hadn't he received any message yet? The possible explanations that his mind came up with didn't soothe his worries one bit. Could something have happened to them?

After a while he mentally slapped himself. It wasn't like him to start having negative thoughts all the time! Since when did he always assume the worst when confronted with an unusual event? This whole incident really began to wear him down.

'It would be way too much of a coincidence if there was something wrong in Strahta as well. They'll be just fine. Maybe Pascal simply forgot where she put her communicator. Yeah, that's probably it...' The thought was a rather poor attempt to calm himself, but it worked, even if only a little, and eased his restlessness.

In an attempt to get away from his negative thoughts, he put on his boots and sneaked outside the inn, careful not to wake his daughter as he passed her door. A small wind greeted him and played with his hair the moment Asbel closed the door behind him. It felt refreshing on his skin as the lord closed his eyes and relished the moment for a while. The seconds passed by and he would've liked to enjoyed the feeling a bit longer. But his stomach reminded him that he had skipped breakfast and judging by the position of the sun, afternoon wasn't all that far away.

With a sigh he found his way to a bakery and bought a few sandwiches. One sandwich in his stomach, and three more in a bag for later, his feet carried him through Gralesyde and Asbel took the opportunity to look at the city more closely. The town itself was radiant with life. Everywhere people talked and walked, kids ran around, laughing and teasing each other. The sun radiated with a pleasant warmth that countered the slightly stronger breeze.

But there were also others. Silent people, standing around with empty glares in their eyes. Kids that didn't run, but simply sat around, not uttering a single word. Dogs that winced instead of barked. They tended to separate themselves from the more lively crowd, but there still was a heavy note.

Though the atmosphere in general was pleasant, it was obvious that many people were still disturbed by the events in Barona. Especially the refugees, who most likely made up the biggest part of the silent people. It were the small signs that gave them away. A small tear on a shirt, a stain on a pair of trousers that seemed a little bit too old, wrinkles in the clothes as if one had slept in them. But it usually was the helplessness in their gaze that made it easy to identify them. They had either grown quiet or ignored the whole situation altogether. They didn't know what else to do or how else to deal with what had happened .

Through the small ocean of people, his feet found a path to the crowd filled central plaza. He managed to occupy one of the benches and it became his territory while he leaned back and watched the people pass in front of him.

Alone with his thoughts he sat there, taking small bites from another sandwich occasionally, until an unexpected voice caught his attention.

"Good to see you Asbel!"

Asbel looked up.

"Richard?" His intonation betrayed his surprise "I thought you were in a meeting with Duke Dalen!"

"We're taking a little break. And most certainly, we need it." A sigh escaped from the king's lips.

Something in his voice made Asbel look closer at his friend while Richard sat down beside him. Nothing seemed wrong at first glance. On the surface Richard was attentive and groomed as always. But a closer look showed him, that the dark circles under his eyes, that had been subtle yesterday, were now a not-so-subtle black. And Asbel could swear his friend had never been that pale before. His king seemed tired, even more than yesterday. The strain in his glances and the waver in his voice did nothing to counter this thought.

'Did he even sleep yesterday?' Asbel asked himself silently and then more audible:

"Richard? Are you ok? You look like a ghost, you know that?"

"I'll be ok. There are just so many things left to do that it sometimes looks like I'll never be finished. The refugees, establishing a new capital, the soldiers, the monsters, the food supply, the people... There are so many things to organize and to take care of... I feel like...sometimes...Gah! Please lets not talk about work at the moment. It's so unnerving."

Irritated he waved with his hand as if to drive away evil spirits, his feelings showing on his face.

"Are you sure about that? I can help you, you know?"

"You don't need to, I'll manage somehow. Listen, just let it go for now..."

"It wouldn't be a problem. I have enough time left at the moment anyway."

"No...Asbel... lets just be silent for a while, I don't want to talk about it..."

Asbel ignored the rising anger in his friend's intonation and how Richard's right hand had started to grip his sword frantically.

"No, no, It's okay, really. I can do that. How about I come with you next ti..."

He was stopped mid-sentence by a sudden outburst.

"ENOUGH!"

Richard got up and stood in front of him. He looked like he needed to punch someone in the face.

"Asbel I don't have time for that right now! I don't even have the energy for it! I just wanted to relax with you, not listen to your sympathetic words! Yes, the whole thing is hard. But I'll manage, I always have, even when you weren't there. And besides, politics never were your forte, you couldn't really help me there anyway. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll go to a place where people will actually give me some peace!"

With a rustle he turned and walked back in the direction of Dalen's mansion, his cloak waving behind him.

In shock Asbel watched after his friend, too surprised to be hurt by the words and too confused to realize what on Ephinea had just happened . Then he saw him stumble. Then he saw him fall on the ground without rising up again.

It took the Lord of Lhant little more than a second to be at his king's side again.

"Richard?! Richard?! Are you ok?! Richard?! Talk to me! Come on! Say something! Anything!"

But by the time the words reached Richard's ear, the man had already fallen deep, deep into the black void that was unconsciousness.

* * *

"Stress, stress and again stress. This guy has been working even way after the point any normal human being should. If I had to guess I'd say he's quite used to overworking himself. Seems like this time he bit off more than he could chew though. Damn, his system is so out of it that even his immune system might collapse if he isn't careful. But don't worry buddy, everything will turn out just fine. Give him a few days of rest and he will be jumping around in no time at all. "

Sophie, Cheria and Asbel stood in front of Richard's door that the medic in his thirties just had closed behind him. It was a cheerful fellow. Clothed in white robes, he seemed as big as a tree, wide as a cupboard with a few muscles here and there and with a glow around him that seemed to lift the mood in a room the moment he entered and made him instantly likeable. He spoke in one of those silly southern Windor dialects that would have made everyone in the group smile, if they were not so worried about Richard.

"Mr..." Cheria began, slightly unsure how to talk to the man.

"Wudrow. Mandor Wudrow. Call me however you like young lady, as long as its something respectful," the southern man gave her a small wink. Distracted by her worries about Richard she didn't even notice the far too informal style which the medic used to talk her.

"Mr. Wudrow, is there anything I could do to help Richard? I'm an adept healer and maybe I could..." She was interrupted before she was able to finish the sentence.

"Nah young lady, that would relax a muscle inside him at best. In worst case, it might finish off his immune system entirely. Healing only works on physical wounds. If I got your little talk earlier right, you compress the pain caused by the wound in a small time frame and lessen it a bit while accelerating the healing process. It wouldn't work in his case. And if it did, the short-term pain might be enough to make it worse, not better. So, no magics here!"

"Can't we help Richard?" Sophie's voice was glum at the thought of her friend being hurt without her being able to do something about it.

"Oh now now, I didn't say _that _little lady. Maybe a few flowers would help him when he wakes up. Lighten up his mood and so on. Do you know where to get some?"

She shot a small grimace at first for being called "young lady" and the way the doctor talked down to her. In the year after the Fodra incident it had begun to bother her when people treated her like a small child. In regards of age she was the oldest being on Ephinea after all! At least in terms of the age of her body. But the idea of flowers had some appeal to her, so she nodded and left the house with a smile towards the medic.

Now Asbel turned to the big man.

"And there's really nothing we can do?"

"Nope. I hate to repeat what I said, but there's nothing at all. If anything, I'd suggest that you get a nap there yourself. You look a bit pale around the nose and standing here for five hours didn't do you any good either. Now, if you'll excuse me, I still have those two roasted guys to tend to, the ones you brought me yesterday. They seriously have no sense of humor, at all I tell you. Didn't even snicker when I asked them if their backs were rare, medium or well done. "

The medic's face contorted as if he had bitten a lemon.

"Anyway, have a nice day guys and girls!" and with that, he left them alone in front of the door.

Asbel leaned his back against the wooden wall and sighed.

"This is so frustrating! First I have to worry if my friend is still alive and not a day afterwards he gets a mental break-down. I should have gone with him yesterday, maybe I could have..."

But Cheria stopped him mid-sentence. She knew his self-destructive behavior and was quite adept at ending it by now.

"Asbel, stop it. If you had done that, we would have two irritated and tired break-down victims right now instead of one. Richard will get back on his feet, you heard the doctor. And he was right about you needing some sleep, you look like you have seen a ghost!"

The irony of the last words, especially when he reminded himself of his first few words to Richard that afternoon, wasn't lost on him. It nearly brought a smile out of him.

But he stayed silent with a stoic impression on his face. Cheria stepped a bit closer and tried to focus his eyes on her. But they stayed firmly fixed on the door between him and the person unconscious on the other side.

"I can't sleep now, you know that. I mean, how could I while he's lying in there?" he answered her, his voice heavy.

"But you need to and you know that as well. At least try, for my sake, ok?"

The lord sighed and looked at his wife. She was obviously right. And he really wanted to try sleeping. But still, there was something nagging inside his head. It was not the guilt this time, it was something different. As if he had forgotten something...

"Pascal!" with a shout the lord stood straight and started rummaging around his pockets. It didn't take long for him to find the communication device. Quickly he checked if there had been any new messages while he wasn't around. Disappointment reflected on his face when he noticed that the Amarcian still hadn't answered.

"Asbel? What is it with Pascal? Is there something wrong?" Cheria was confused.

"No, nothing like that. You remember yesterday when Richard and I went to Barona so I could see that dragon? We thought that it was impossible for something with such a strength to appear suddenly out of thin air, without anyone knowing anything about it. Nothing that powerful should have been able to go unnoticed until now. Someone had to know something about it, so I sent Pascal a message and asked her."

"So? What's her answer then?"

"That's why I'm worried. She hasn't answered yet. She didn't even send a reply just to check if everything's ok. That's so unlike her..."

"You think something has happened to them?" Worry started to enter her voice.

"I don't know. I mean, for all we know she could simply have forgotten where she put the thing. Wouldn't surprise me at all. But still..."

Silently his wife agreed with him. The whole situation had yet another feeling of foreboding, even to her.

"Asbel, we have to go to Strahta."

Asbel nodded at her words. It was something he had thought about as well while waiting in front of Richard's room.

"We can't sit here forever and wait for the wyrms to come back for another attack. We have to do something. And if it's the fastest way to get rid of that monster, then we should go to her. I'm sure Richard would support the idea."

"Indeed he would. So much in fact, that he would like to accompany you. If that would be fine with you, of course"

The unexpected voice of their king made both of them jump. Behind them, Richard was leaning against the doorframe to his room, a small smile playing around his lips.

"Richard! You're awake!" Cheria cried out the obvious as she turned.

"You look...better" added Asbel after a second.

Indeed, though still not the prime example of healthy, the skin of his friend had gotten a bit more colorful and the circles beneath his eyes had faded. That slightly amused look in his eyes, that belonged to Richard like a banana to Pascal, had also found its way back to him.

Though these eyes were filled with sadness when they looked to Asbel.

"Asbel, I am sorry. There is no excuse for what I have said to you this afternoon. I should never have spoken these words. I hope you can accept my apology"

Richards voice trembled a bit, unsure if he should add something or not. Asbel waved it off before he could talk.

"It's not important Richard. You're better now, that's enough. Just take better care of yourself okay?"

He paused for a moment.

"And are you sure you want to come with us? You have to rest and more stress surely wouldn't do you any good. And you have things to take care of over here as well. I'm not even sure if you should be standing here right now..."

Now it was Richards turn to wave Asbel's words off.

"I'll have more than enough time to rest on the ship to Strahta. Duke Dalen will take care of the rest here, we have finished most of the work already anyway. The rest is merely sending out a few messengers and starting the plans we have set in motion. He will manage"

Richard smiled again when he continued.

"Though sometimes I wonder why or how the man can be so loyal towards me. But he never showed any intention of overthrowing the throne. Besides you and our friends, Asbel, he is one of the very few people at court that I can trust. He's a true blessing for me at times"

"So you'll leave with us then? With the Duke as your replacement?" Cheria asked after finally regaining her composure.

"Yes, as I said, he will manage. But now let me ask you something. You were waiting here, but where is Sophie? I wanted to..."

A tap on the shoulder made him stop and turn. Sophie had already returned from her errand. She smiled happily, a few sopherias in her hand that were held out to him.

"I got some flowers for you, Richard. The doctor said they would help you recover."

Richard's smile widened. Occasional demonstrations of Sophie's innocence like these were the reason that people consider her more of a child than an adult which she, considering her looks, undoubtably was. But that didn't matter to Richard. He liked her that way.

"Thank you Sophie" The words were accompanied by an affectionate look as he took the flowers.

Then he turned to Asbel and Cheria again.

"If you'll excuse me, I have to convince the Duke of my plans without him sending a regiment of soldiers after me to 'support me in my fragile condition.' "

He made a small grimace.

"That will not be a small feat."

The way the Duke could be overly protective about him got on the king's nerves sometimes.

"Oh no. You can forget that. We won't leave you alone until we're sure that you're fine. We'll go with you. I'm sure the Duke will be easier convinced if we can reassure him that the only thing you will be allowed to do is watching the landscape."

Cheria's motherly intonation filled the room while she completely ignored that it was her king she was talking to.

"Oh? Will I?"

Amusement and a small dare filled Richards voice. No one had dared to speak to him like that in years. Somewhere in his head he asked himself if the Duke or his friend's wife would win in a 'Look after the helpless king'-contest against each other.

Cheria heard the subtle dare, but didn't back down. She even played the joke a little further.

"Yes, you will. And if you don't, you will go to bed without dinner!"

It didn't take long for Asbel to join them in their banter.

"Better listen to her Richard. Her dinners are delicious after all. Remember that mild curry she made on our trip to Fodra? She can do it even better now! Last time she made it I could almost see stars!"

Richard stifled a laugh. Conversations like these were the reason he missed the whole group so terribly whenever they didn't meet. There was something in the way they didn't mind his status at all when they talked to him. They never minded their words around him. They were simply honest. It made their friendship all the more precious to him.

"We don't want that to happen now, do we? I guess I'll settle for looking around then."

With a satisfied smile on her face, the four of them made their way towards the Duke's room.

* * *

A/N:

I'm in kind of a situation here. I'm not that sure how to write Sophie. On the one hand, she's slightly grown up after L&L. On the other hand, she's still the slightly naïve little girl that can be fooled by guys like the captain. And I'm not entirely sure what her speech patterns were at the end of L&L, though I'm replaying the game atm for that. But I'm currently barely after the Kurt-fight in the original game, so that may take a while .

Small excursion for Kurt, simply because Kurt: Damn this guy is ridiculous! There are like three bosses in the whole game that need an all-divide (Chaos-difficulty): Cedric, Kurt and Fodra. And Cedric simply because I was too lazy to try without one. For Kurt I still had to grind to level 45 to stand a chance against this guy. It's ridiculous! This guy is like Chuck Norris little brother on speed! In a fight Kurt vs Richard, Kurt wouldn't even have to lift his weapons. His stares would crit Richard for 99999 damage in a 100 Hit combo and the fight would be over after a second! Well... I somehow still like the fight. It was the third real challenge for me in the game, after cedric and the parasite and I felt soooooo much satisfaction when he finally bit the dust.

Back to topic: It's a bit hard to grasp what Sophie would say in different situations. Especially when I still try to keep her dialogues as simple as possible.

Another thing is the relationship between Richard and Cheria. I know that Richard most of the time makes fun of everyone, but I never got the feeling that there's any kind of relationship between him and Cheria, wether it be friendship or simple acquaintances. They're simply somehow connected through Asbel. So it's hard to write how they feel towards each other =/

**agarfinkel:** I only defeated Gloandi (I think his real name was Gloandrake or something?) in my first game. Was around level 60 or something on evil. He was pretty easy compared to the other dragons. I've seen turtles faster than him and it's pretty easy to get his attention with Asbel. And dodging him isn't all that hard either, so defense against him is mostly unnecessary. I tried Duplemar and Forbrannir (Forgot the names, sorry) afterwards, arrogantly thinking I could defeat them. The fact that they had double the hit points should've been a warning... They kicked my ass and I was too lazy to grind my way towards acceptable levels for them.

But I plan on kicking their asses this time. I overlooked quite a lot of secrets in my first game and I plan to fix that now (especially the fact that I didn't even get a look at the Zhonecage). Doesn't hurt either that it's a completely new game depending on which character you choose to main ;)

**Update 20.03:** I'm very sorry everyone. I was just writing the fourth chapter and suddenly noticed something: I didn't write a damn thing about Sophie and how she had changed. And that's quite important since she **has** changed! She's now slightly (though not a lot) more mature, way more expressive, has more of an aura around her and is in several ways more human. I think I'll go more into the effects of her transformation in the future someday. For now it's just important that her powers remained and so did the powers she bestowed onto the others. I wrote a small paragraph that described her in more detail in chapter 1 and updated it (around 300 words). I'm shamefully aware that this paragraph should have been there from the start, but it took watching the end of L&L again until I noticed... =/

If you care enough I recommend rereading chapter 1. I slightly changed the description of Forbrannir's motivation anyway since I thought that was necessary (going a bit more in detail why he's furious).

Anyway, have a nice day everyone ;)!

**Update 17.04:** Officially beta-proofread chapter!


	4. Chapter 4: Catastrophes and contempt

**Disclaimer:**

*Starts "Promises, promises" from Incubus in the background*

*Starts singing in a horrible voice*  
"I'm on the road of least possession. I'd like to own Namco but I just don't. So I promise you only one thing, I do: I'll never own Tales of Graceeeeeeeeees." *Stops singing after the amount of ear bleeding in the audience reaches critical heights. *

"Ok guys, you heard me. I don't own stuff, I'd just like to. The story is mine, the characters and stuff are not. Thank you for listening to me" *bows and leaves the stage*

* * *

**Chapter 4: Catastrophes and Contempt**

Asbel leaned over the railing of the ship and watched the beautiful clear night sky, as he let the events of the day pass in front of his eyes.

It had taken nothing short of a small miracle so that the Duke didn't do what Richard had threatened. Of course Richard simply could have ordered him, but that was not his intention. He hadn't wanted to force a person he respected so much. And the king had to admit, that - to a degree - the way the man cared for him did amuse him. It was simply another of Dalen's traits that he valued so much. So, after an hour of convincing, bargaining and even light threatening, the Duke had finally caved in. They had begun to prepare for moving out immediately, while Richard and Dalen had refined some details of their plans to work without his majesty.

The group of four had left with the Lhant troops towards their home, again via landscape, then left the troops there and made their way to Lhant's port to get to Strahta. The weather would have allowed for travel via boat directly to Oul Raye from Gralesyde, but the storms near Gralesyde had always been difficult to manage. Now that they had become even more unpredictable and strong, it was riskier than it was worth to travel from there. Asbel hadn't wanted to take the risk.

Luckily, the wounded hadn't proven to be a problem. Thanks to Cheria's and Wudrow's efforts, most of the soldiers had been rested enough to take the trip. Wudrow had worked small miracles and at least a third of the soldiers had something to talk about him on the trip back. Though many of them had complained about Wudrow's bad, very bad jokes. At least that's what the lord had heard from them. The two one-legged soldiers had been downright shocked when the medic asked them, if they both wanted wooden rods as prosthesis together with two eye patches and call themselves the one-leg-pirates. He had even offered to make them a flag.

What had proven to be a problem however, were Asbel's duties in Lhant. As the lord it was not so easy to leave whenever he wanted. He had also noticed the growing discomfort of Bayley whenever he had to act as a substitute. It had ended with Bayley being slightly frustrated because of the extra duties, while his lord went out to see the world. He hadn't voiced any complaints towards Asbel, but the lord simply knew the others thoughts. But there was no choice. He was the best man for the job and Asbel knew that he would be able to prepare Lhant for any monster attacks as good as the lord himself could. Maybe he should give him a holiday after this whole trip was over, he earned it. He could also ask Cheria if she felt like playing matchmaker for the still single captain of his troops. It was certainly not one of his worst ideas.

They had taken off to Strahta afterwards. Asbel had spent the largest part of the first day on board with Cheria, simply talking to her most of the time, at least between some light kissing and enjoying her company. But now, after night-fall, he felt the desire for some seclusion to think without interruption.

So he had gone to the railing and enjoyed the view and the calming sound of the waves. He must have stood there for quite a while, because his back felt stiff when he turned by the light sound of silent footsteps.

"Oh hey, Sophie. What are you doing out here?"

His adoptive daughter looked enchanting in the night. The elegance in her movement didn't fail to entice the looks of a few sailors that were still up working. But that didn't matter to Asbel. She was still Sophie to him, she would always be. And may Fodra have mercy on the man's soul that dared to be around her the moment she decided to discover the wonders of love other than the love to family and friends. It might be a bit out of his place but he still felt like and legally was her father after all... His thoughts were interrupted.

"I couldn't sleep and wanted to see the sky. But I thought you would be asleep with Cheria "

She gave him a small smile that radiated with warmth.

"I wanted to be alone for a while but I'm fine now. Care to keep me company and watch the sky together?"

"Of course."

With another movement that was enticing to watch she moved besides him and they watched the sky together in silence, soothed by the rhythmic sounds of the water.

By the time Sophie started to speak again, Asbel had shifted his posture a few times already to avoid his back getting even stiffer.

"Asbel" she began, her voice with a more questioning tone "Why is Richard so sad all the time?"

That question caught Asbel off guard.

"Sad? What do you mean?"

"Richard is trying to hide it, but he always gets sad eyes when he looks back to Windor. I asked him, but he said that there's nothing wrong and that I shouldn't worry about it. But he's sad Asbel! I see it! Why doesn't he want me to know?"

It clicked in Asbel's head as the gears set in motion. He hadn't noticed it, since he himself had been relieved that his friend was all right and he was busy organizing their trip to Strahta, but Sophie was right. Richard's enthusiasm these past few days had decreased and his usual smirk had begun to lessen. It surprised him that he hadn't noticed it earlier himself.

'Have I really begun to stop looking behind your mirage, Richard?' he silently asked his absent friend.

"He's feeling responsible Sophie. He thinks that it's his fault what happened in Barona. And he feels guilty for all the people he couldn't save. He blames himself whenever he meets someone who lost an important person in Barona. And it eats at him. He can't forgive himself for what has happened."

"But why? The dragon attacked the people, not him. He protected them and he saved them. Why is he still sad?"

"Because he still thinks he could have done better. There is always one more person, or just one more child that could still be alive if you had just tried harder. This feeling that you didn't do enough. It's always like that and if you don't learn how to deal with it, it kills you from the inside. I guess he thinks, that if he had just been better prepared, if he had just fought harder, that he could have saved more."

Asbel sighed. He knew these feelings all too well. He had been in the same position after he had defeated Lambda. Had they just been a little faster with their chase... The lord mentally slapped himself for the second time in this week. This route of thought led nowhere good.

"It will be okay, Sophie. Richard just needs some time to deal with all of this. He'll manage"

The tone in his voice was meant to sound uplifting, but judging by the still worried look on Sophie's face, he hadn't done a really good job.

"Richard will be fine Sophie, I promise."

This finally did the trick and his daughter's face showed some relief, but she wasn't completely calmed yet.

"Pinky promise?" she asked him hopefully.

"Pinky promise."

Asbel noticed how the words magically drove out the worry lines from her face and replaced it with a heartwarming smile.

"You know, if you continue to worry so much you'll start having wrinkles very soon."

"Wrinkles?"

"They are lines on your skin. Everyone gets them when you get older. They develop because of the movement on your face when you express your feelings. You'll see them eventually on Cheria and me. You may even see some if we meet the captain again. Just don't tell them when you notice them. Especially not to Cheria! Some people think that they don't look good with wrinkles on their faces"

Asbel chuckled. He knew his wife well enough by now to imagine her reaction if Sophie would ever tell her that she saw some wrinkles on her face. It was cute in his eyes how she sometimes panicked because of the funniest thing. When Richard had told him why Cheria had hid herself from him every time they had gone to the Turtlez headquarter, he had nearly died laughing. Luckily, said wife hadn't been around to punish him for his amusement at the time.

"Oh. So if I don't move my face, I won't get wrinkles?" Sophie asked, her face showing her curiosity.

"I... guess so. Wait,why do you want to know?" Asbel asked , suspicious of her motives.

In truth, the lord somehow knew the reason for the question. But he didn't want it to be true. However, the moment he noticed that her face fell plain without even the slightest emotion showing on it, he knew he shouldn't have brought up the subject. She avoided eye-contact while she answered, a small blush coloring her cheeks.

"Oh, it's nothing. It's fine. I think I'm going back to sleep now. Good night, Asbel."

Asbel tried to diffuse the now ticking time bomb before it had the chance to explode.

"Sophie! Wait...!"

But she had already closed the door to the cabins behind her. For a moment, the lord considered if he should go after her, before someone could ask her about the sudden disappearance of her facial expressions. Yet, the lack of motivational energy to explain yet another of humanity's mysteries to his daughter let him stop. Sophie's newfound attention she paid to her looks from time to time were adorable, even if displays of it were rare. But they usually triggered a chain of events that somehow always led to him calming Cheria or trying to minimize the damage her behaviour otherwise caused. Well... his future-self would have to deal with the bomb if it exploded. He just had to hope that she wouldn't talk with Cheria about it...

With a sigh he turned and leaned over the railing again to watch the sky. This time however, a slight feeling of unease rested in the back of his head.

* * *

Richard had diffused the whole wrinkle situation before it became really problematic. Asbel didn't know how, but somehow he had gotten the idea out of Sophie's head that showing emotions on her face was a bad thing and that she instead should show them more clearly. The fact that the king wasn't able to stifle a chuckle when he talked to his friend about it, relaxed Lhant's lord a bit. Besides that, the trip had been quite uneventful. Asbel had chatted with the other three a lot and enjoyed the evenings in the company of Cheria. Of course he was concerned about the fact that Pascal still didn't respond during their trip. But he kept talking to himself that everything was fine and that they would be fine as well. Otherwise nothing happened and with no urgent task at hand for them, all of them appeared to be nearly too well rested when they arrived at the port of Oul Raye at noon, a week later.

The city had changed since the last time they had set foot here. A lot of subtle changes could hit the eye of one who paid attention to it. There were more plants around at places that were usually dry. The color of them had changed from a dry green-yellow to a bright, healthy green. The water level at the port seemed higher then usual. And additionally, the air seemed a bit more moist than it had been the last few times Asbel had visited the coastal city. However, none of these changes were consciously noticed by any of the four as they walked through the port.

What they did notice was the increased activity of workers in the city itself. They were nearly everywhere, building wooden walls and other obstacles around the city. And they did it hectically, as if they anticipated an attack at any moment. Overseers walked around and shouted small commands to the workers if something was not to their satisfaction. That in itself was quite a surprise and raised a lot of questions within the four. Yet, before they were able to ask anyone what was happening, an even greater surprise unfolded before their eyes.

"Take the blocks over to the eastern wall. Hurry! The wall has to be up by dawn!" shouted a big, muscular man in front of them. His deep, booming voice carried over the site and the strong commanding tone made a few of the stoneblock-carrying workers on the place hurry in eastern direction. The voice was incredibly familiar to them and they knew why the moment the man turned around.

In front of them stood Malik Caesar, envoy of Fendel's Chancellor Eigen, overseer of the heat-water-project in Fendel, war hero of the Lambda and Fodra conflict and also former instructor and good friend of Asbel Lhant. In the few months since his last visit he hadn't changed one bit. The blond hair and beard looked good on the man, though a few unattended stubbles could be seen that had to be a few days old. His brown jacket and pink shirt showed minor signs of being worn out and his usually clean and shining Demonbladerang on his back looked like it had seen quite some action in the past few days.

His face betrayed no surprise at the sight of his former companions although there was no way that he could have known of their arrival. He simply raised an eyebrow and smiled with a look mixed with fondness and sadness while they approached him.

"Captain! It's good to see you again!"

Asbel carried out the rather emotionless standard military greeting, while his face showed how happy he was to see his teacher. He had never stopped respecting his former instructor and it was still hard for him to meet him on eye-level. The captain answered with an identical greeting and then folded his arms in front of him, just like he always did.

"It's been far too long since the last time I saw you. And I mean that to all of you. I'm sad that we don't meet under better circumstances. I assume that you are already familiar with what has happened?"

The voice of the instructor was kind, but a tinge of sadness could be heard. Cheria was the first to answer.

"I'm not sure what you mean, Captain. We are here to find Pascal. A green dragon appeared over Barona and attacked the city. We came to ask her for help."

The Captain didn't move one bit, but his eyebrows raised again, this time both and this time to symbol surprise. He didn't need to ask, Asbel read his expression and immediately started to explain what had happened in the last week. By the end of his speech, Malik's shoulders seemed heavier than before.

"An attack in Windor as well, is it? These are dark times indeed."

Asbel managed to ask the question before his wife could.

"What's wrong Captain? What do you mean?"

"Something similar happened to Yu Liberte. But a blue dragon appeared, instead of a green one. And it didn't waste time to destroy the city, it flooded it completely. No known survivors. Hubert, Pascal, the president and I were in Sable Izole, to extract information from the lost archive under the tower when it happened. The capital is now at the bottom of the lake of Liberte."

He paused for a moment to let them process what he had just said. The noises from the workers around them didn't stop while they waited. It let the whole news appear slightly unrealistic and gave a bitter note to it.

"It also flooded the living grounds of the Rockgagong and the Rockgagong hasn't been seen since. The grounds are now called the Rockgagong-sea. A small amount of terrestrial dragons now live in and near both seas and have started to attack people near them. The blue dragon has occasionally been seen to attack human villages near Lake Liberte as well, as far as the reports can tell. If they are correct, it is an even more dangerous creature than the Rockgagong itself."

A few seconds of silence passed, before Malik Caesar started to talk for the third time.

"There are also reports that claim that Zavhert has been destroyed completely, attacked by a red dragon. Also with no known survivors. It is unknown if chancellor Eigen or any of the other political leaders are still alive."

He stopped. That was a lot of information to take in, especially regarding how catastrophic those news was. All of the three main capitals of Ephinea had been annihilated in the past two weeks. The sheer amount of lost lives was more than any of them could ever hope to imagine. The shock should have been reduced by the things they had witnessed during their fight against Lambda. But nothing could prepare someone for this amount of destruction.

He could see how a hint of desperation held residence in the eyes of his former companions. And indeed, Asbel found himself again confronted with the questions that had tormented his thoughts ever since he had first seen the green dragon:

How? What could he do against an enemy, that outclassed them so much that the mere thought of confronting them seemed ridiculous?

They had dared to attack Fodra before, that had been the core of a giant planet with eleth several times more than the Lastalia. But then again, back then they had the support of Lambda and his powers, which had strengthened them far beyond their normal limits.

'If only Lambda could help us. If only we had his strength to go against this monster '

But they didn't and the hopelessness that made him feel was an emotion shared by every one of his companions. It took him a while until he mentally slapped himself.

"This isn't the time to feel sorry for what has happened. We have to find Pascal and Hubert. Then we focus on how to deal with the dragons. There has to be a way. There always is. Captain, do you know where they are?"

New determination showed in the lord's eyes and the strength that appeared in his voice astonished even himself for a moment. He could see Malik smile while he looked at him before he began to answer.

"You just missed him by a day. He set out yesterday in the evening towards Sable Izole. He was worried about Pascal, so he went earlier and left me with the preparations. She's still over there with president Paradine searching for information about these new enemies."

Cheria was the next to talk. Even though her husbands speech had raised her spirits, some bleakness still remained in her voice.

"How did Hubert take the news of the destruction?"

"You better ask him that yourself. He has... changed ever since the incident."

Asbel could imagine how furious his brother probably had been after he received the news. Hubert could demonstrate levels of anger that other people didn't even know existed. And not unlike Asbel, his reaction to sadness and other less nice feelings was anger in unhealthy amounts, most of the time. Another reason Pascal was such a good fit for him. It was nearly impossible to stay angry or sad around her.

"I'd like to accompany you on the way to Sable Izole. Please, wait here. I'll do what I can to get these guys to finish without me."

* * *

The group had nodded and had then sought out shelter in the shadow of one of the surrounding palms from the heat of the sun. The climate in Strahta was pretty warm all year around and they did manage to reach it in spring, one of the cooler seasons in the land. But it still was hot and the shining sun felt like it was enhanced by a lens to burn their skin. And, as if to make fun of them, the heat was combined with such humidity that it simply drained the energy from them. Not that this was really necessary. The report had taken its toll on them as well and all the earlier energy they had accumulated during the seafaring had disappeared into nothingness.

They were quiet most of the time with Sophie resting her head in Richard's lap and Cheria leaning her head against Asbel's shoulder with closed eyes. Her husband held her hand and drew small reassuring circles with his thumb on the back of it. As far as he could notice by the way her shoulders started to relax, it seemed to work.

It was a peaceful moment for them, if they disregarded all the noise of the workers around them.

Sadly, before long Malik had finished with his instructions and they made their way out of town. He now had a short rope attached to his belt, but nobody asked him why.

On their way to the gates Asbel started a little talk.

"Captain? What were you actually doing in Oul Raye? I know you talked about preparations, but what did you mean by that?"

"Strahta is trying to reinforce the villages and other cities to anticipate further attacks from those new dragons. Safety of the people is Paradine's top priority, so he started to improve the defenses. Hubert was sent through a few villages with Oul Raye as the final goal and I decided to support him."

That answer confused Asbel more than it helped him.

"But...aren't you needed in Fendel?"

"Are you so eager to get rid of me?"

Malik smiled. But before Asbel could start an excuse he continued.

"No need for an apology. I know it must seem strange, but there is not much I can do. My political opinion only mattered as long as I was in high regards of the Chancellor. Without him, my options are quite limited. I could not replace him, neither would I be able to. I'd have to wait until the situation is clearer and either the chancellor returns or a another leader is found. Therefor I can support the people Fendel better by asking for help in Strahta than by going back. Time will show if that was the better solution."

Asbel nodded. What his former instructor told him made sense. And part of him was glad that Malik had decided that way. He wouldn't have had the chance to see him again otherwise.

Malik's former pupil was especially glad to have met his instructor after they had left the city.

"Be careful where you step. Rainfall has increased ever since this blue dragon appeared. The darker patches of sand that you see are quicksand. Step in it and you'll sink hip-deep in sand. Fortunately you can't drown in it (1). But it's hard to get free after you sink in and fighting dragons or other monsters doesn't get easier while you're stuck in sand, believe me. Hubert and I had to learn that the hard way, hence the rope."

Outside Oul Raye the changes were obvious. Besides the smiting humidity and aforementioned darker patches of sand, small puddles of water had formed on the ground where it wasn't seeping away fast enough. The amount of plants had drastically grown and all of them looked greener and thicker than before. Signs that the amount of water eleth had drastically increased were everywhere.

That same water-eleth in the air however was taxing enough that most of them didn't feel like talking. It stayed that way for most of the journey as the hours passed and the sun moved more and more towards west. Dusk had long since passed when they heard the first sounds besides that of the wind, their own footsteps or their own voices. It was the death cry of a human echoing over the verge of a sand dune.

They didn't need to exchange words between them to know what they had to do next. Silently, they hurried over to the dune to see who had been the source of that cry, moonlight illuminating their path. They increased their pace when sudden flashes of lightning from the other side of the dune started illuminating the area around them. Soon, other cries could be heard, accompanied by the sounds of clashing swords and casted magic. The noise was loud enough to make it sound like two big groups of fighters were clashing against each other. Another death cry appeared before they finally made it over the edge and got a good look at the situation.

The guess that two groups were fighting hadn't been that inaccurate. It was just that the second group wasn't a group at all. It was one person. A person in a blue strahtan officer uniform and fitting blue hair.

* * *

In the middle of ten bandits, only a few hundred meters away, lieutenant Hubert Oswell was breathing heavily and fighting for his life. Sweat covered his forehead and ran down his chin, blood dropping from several shallow wounds on his back and arms. Several dried bloodstains already covered his uniform as well as a small amount of cuts and holes.

With incredible precision and effectiveness he opened the stomach of a bandit in front of him with a vertical cut and send sent him bleeding on the ground, where another bandit and a mage were already lying. In the fraction of a second he turned, drew his guns and fired a burst of bullets at a mage that was about to cast a spell behind him. Before the last bullet even hit its target, he anticipated an attack and side-stepped, evading a small bomb that was thrown at him by another bandit on his left. The explosion whirled up sand and gave both parties a small moment of rest, before the fight continued.

After that stunt, Hubert didn't have another opportunity to attack. He had already eliminated three of them in a matter of a minutes and the remaining nine opponents didn't dare to give him another shot at it. Or at them. At least not as long as they could prevent it. And regarding the already ailing condition the lieutenant was in, it wouldn't take long until they would have finally worn him out.

That however would never happen. There were five reasons for that and all of them came into effect at the same time. Before anyone could react, two bandits were covered in a sea of fire that burned their clothes and skin from their body, a mage collapsed with a dagger in the back of his head, a bladerang cut through the arm of another bandit before a punch to his back shattered his spine and another mage fell to the ground, cut in half by seemingly nothing but the wind.

It didn't take long for the lieutenant to overcome his own surprise and exploit the confusion of his enemies. He separated both halves of his dualblade and cut the stomach of a bandit on his right with his right blade. Utilizing the momentum of his movement he threw his left blade at a casting mage angular behind the bandit and pierced his chest. Before that mage fell on the ground Hubert stood already by his side, freeing his sword and reuniting it with its other half to lift his weapon above his head and defend against a sword attack of another enemy. A swift kick to the chest of his opponent and a shot between his eyes while he stumbled backwards were enough for the lieutenant to finish him off.

Strahta's deadliest soldier turned just in time to watch Sophie jump in the air and shatter the skull of the last mage with a kick. The body nearly flew three meters before it touched the ground and lay still, close to the bandit whose stomach Hubert had opened only a few seconds ago. It had taken less than two minutes to end a fight, that had seemed to last a small eternity.

Overcome by a wave of weakness as the surge of adrenaline finally subsided, the lieutenant rammed his dualblade in the sand to support himself with it. Deep, heavy breaths raised his chest as he finally took the time to glance at the faces of his saviors, dazzled by the sun. It took him a few moments to recognize his brother and his friends. He didn't show any signs of happiness that they had come to his aid. Instead his face looked even angrier for a moment once his eyes turned to Asbel. Words came from his mouth in between his breaths.

"Brother? (gasp) What (gasp) on (gasp) Ephinea (gasp) are you (gasp) doing here?"

While waiting for an answer, Sophie walked to Hubert, pulled one of his arms over her shoulder and supported her uncle. It showed on Hubert's face that this displeased him, but he didn't stop her.

Asbel wasn't sure how to react to this. The subtle aggressiveness in Hubert's voice confused him. Malik was the one that answered in his stead.

"Actually, we were looking for you and Pascal. It seems that Barona has also faced an attack similar to the attacks on Yu Liberte and Zavhert. We wanted to ask if they have any new information about our new enemies. "

The lieutenant's mouth twitched slightly at the mention of Strahta's former capital but otherwise his face was neutral while he drew one deep breath after another.

Malik continued.

"But what about you? How were these bandits able to corner you like that?"

Hubert took a few seconds to recover his breath before he answered this time. With more air he finally sounded more like his usual self.

"These cretins surprised me while I was resting yesterday. Fifteen of them attacked me. I merely finished off a few of them before I was forced to retreat. I managed to hide myself in the night, but they detected me before I was able to get to the city. Their pathetic plan was to blackmail Paradine for food. It was an act of desperation. Food supply has gone short in this region since Yu Liberte was destroyed, Malik, and they prefered to die by sword rather than starvation."

The way his face showed anger mixed with disdain for his enemies surprised Asbel. Lhant's lord wasn't used to this side of his brother. He had seen him angry before, yes. Even angry enough that he scared him, yes. But contempt and disdain were new. Hubert had always shown at least a minimum of respect for his enemies, even if only with subtle gestures. Had the events in Yu Liberte wounded him so much?

Asbel decided to not address the topic for now. The biggest part of him was still relieved to see that Hubert was still alive.

"How bad are your wounds Hubert?"

Again there was a small flicker of anger in Hubert's eyes when they looked at Asbel, but he responded.

"Most of them are superficial. Nothing lethal or otherwise harmful. The only things I require are rest, food and time; nothing more will be necessary. But thank you for your consideration, brother."

"Let me tend to your wounds first. No need to suffer more than necessary," sounded Cheria's voice beside him.

Before the lieutenant could object she had already started healing and he lightly bit his tongue at the surprising sharp pain. He managed to say a small 'Thank you' through gritted teeth and closed his eyes to wait for her to finish. The moment she did, Hubert broke away from his niece, opened his eyes and turned around towards Sable Izole without saying a word. He walked a few steps, but without the sound of other footsteps behind him he turned around again, irritation displayed on his face. Five people looked at him, confused by the way he was acting, but he had no patience to talk with them about that now.

"Are you awaiting a carriage? Move!"

And so they did.

* * *

(1): Hollywood myth busted: You can't drown in quicksand. It's like trying to make an inflated football sink in the ocean - it doesn't work. Why? Because quicksand is far more dense than the human body is. Therefore the human body doesn't sink that much - just like an inflated football doesn't completely sink in water.

* * *

A/N: Finally finished this one. It took forever for me to get a finite picture of Oul Raye in my mind before I started describing it. I had a small hunch before, but couldn't really press that into words. I hope a bit of that does show in the things I wrote. Anyway, yes, this chapter is catastrophic. In the way that it shows that I destroyed around half of the world by now... Be assured, that I won't destroy (much) more! At least I haven't planned it, I'm not entirely sure how some of the more important scenes will turn out. Therefore I can only give you a 98% promise ^^

Oh yeah, and (1) because of science. Simply science. Hollywood doing evil stuff and lying to us. Hmm...there was some other stuff I wanted to include in these AN, but I don't remember them anymore. Guess I'll edit them later.

**Update the first:** Don't worry my friends, there will be many more to come (or I'll put them in the next AN...where I'll forget them again), since I've forgotten quite a lot of points that I had wanted to add here. I guess I simply wanted to finish the chapter and frankly, I'm quite happy with it. The boat scene just came over me after watching some Bill Cosby show. And it surprised me (after reading with a bit more distance) that Sophie's dialogues on the boat fit that good. At least I think that. Still struggling with Hubert's and Malik's speech patterns...does Malik even have one? He uses more military words and a slightly enhanced vocabulary, but besides that? Haven't noticed. I think some parts of the dialogues fit them, at least partially, but that's only for around half the things they say...hmmm.

I'd be interested in reactions to the fact that I just destroyed half of Ephinea. I'm interested because I myself have never been a very big fan of storys that change the original environment too much. But I simply had to do it in this place. I actually tried to do it otherwise, but the moment I did it, it just didn't feel right anymore. You have to consider (strength-wise) that these guys are f***ing TERRIFYING enemies (maybe I should add that the T-rating is also for cursing in the A/N), even without eleth as back-up (Set the difficulty on chaos and you know what I mean. They make mashed potatoes out of you if you're beneath level 70). Adding to that, that each of them represents a certain element and that I always regarded the Valkines more as a prison to save the world from their influence, there had to be some major catastrophes going on the moment they left their Valkines...ses. Now they're stronger than ever, while the group itself is weaker (Only slightly stronger than post-main-arc), since I attribute most of their power growth in L&L to Lambda and his tempo-mode. And without that...well, they're screwed. With Lambda they maybe could've started to take on a dragon, but without him...that's bleak.

I just remembered: I have to apologize for my interpunctuation. To be more precise, for the comma placement. I'm incredibly poor at that and I'm sorry if it makes your eyes bleed while you read over my story. I manage in my mother tongue, but I never really got the 100%-hang of commas in english, just as well as the difference between "Cherias" and "Cheria's" with this "possessive s"-thing, if I remember correctly. I'm also not 100% sure about some figures of speech or sentence constructions I used, please contact me in any way you seem fit if they strike your eye with a dagger and seem wrong to you.

Oh, and a hint for the future: By now I have introduced nearly every starting point (except one) for one of the greater conflicts within the group. It will take some time until the conflict itself appears (Hard guess...minimum 2, maximum 7 chapters away), everything else (regarding that particular conflict) will evolve out of them. Hope that gets some of your minds thinking. I for one can't wait to write the scenes I have in mind ^^

**Agarfinkel:** Doesn't really do the trick for me. I seek the challenge, hence first save on evil as soon as available and chaos afterwards with a new game + (I only used "double Gald" and "every title available" at the shop, chaos is still a bitch though). About Pascal and bad odor: I don't believe she's that unclean anymore. She has a reason now not to be and someone who takes care for her instead of Furier and who sees her more frequently *wiggles eyebrows in Hubert's direction*

**D-Drive:** I don't really recall any conversations between them (Cheria and Richard). Between Hubert and Cheria the only exchanges I consciously remember is Hubert raging about Cheria's short skirt. And also Cheria putting out all the Nostalgia-storys about Hubert that embarrass him and her interest in his love life. But that's about it. Not that much to go by, but at least a starting point for some teasing and a few remarks ^^

** Update 17.04:** Beta-proofread!


	5. Chapter 5: Protection and envy

Ok, I need two disclaimers. Simply because a song got stuck in my head while writing the first one:

**Disclaimer 1 :**

"Doctor Wudrow, after some horrible singing my ears started to bleed, I need a cure!"  
"Ho, sunny. Looks like I'll describe you some ownership of Namco and Tales of Graces to cure you!"  
"Really?"  
"No you fool! you can never own Namco and Tales of Graces, you didn't create or buy the rights for either of them! Take these pills and go out of my sight"

You heard the Mandor, I don't own Namco and Tales of Graces and any of their characters or the world. The story however and out of Canon characters are mine, copyrighted and everything.

**Disclaimer 2:**

Doctor, doctor give me the news  
I've got a bad case of loving you...I mean not owning Tales of Graces its characters, Namco & friends  
No pills gonna cure my ill,  
I've got a bad case of loving you...I mean not owning Tales of Graces, its characters, Namco & friends

A pretty dream don't make no pretty reality  
I learned that buddy, from insanity.  
You think I own stuff, you couldn't be more wrong  
Momma, I only own this story...and this song-  
text.

Ok, summary: I don't own Namco or anything Namco has created except a license to play Tales of Graces. The story is mine, don't copy it without my permission. That's about it.

**Preventive Update:** I just read over the whole thing again and while it hurts myself to say it, trying to write the dragons as genderless entitys might not have been my smartest idea. At least for me it caused headaches while I reread the part. I'll fix that in a while, meanwhile please bear with the first paragraph in this chapter and read the "its" as the gender pronoun you'd like it to be.

* * *

**Chapter 5: Protection and Envy**

**- Lake Liberte -**

Calmness surrounded Lake Liberte in the night. Only a breeze dared to move over the surface of the crystal clear water that reflected the moonlight. Underneath the surface however was a different situation. Thousands of fishes swam in swarms through the lake, evading eventual predators or eating whenever they found food. Though the lake should have been low on nutrients, life flourished in it in glorious diversity. The reason for that laid in a being with a vast deep blue silhouette of a body near the bottom of the lake. It was far deeper than most of the fish swam, but it was still surrounded by a few of them. Immense amounts of Eleth poured out of its body, speeding up and strengthening the growth of the life arround it. The fish seemed to feed on the Eleth, sating their appetites as fast as they could and then leaving, only to be replaced by another one. Gentle and kind eyes with reptile-like pupils watched the activity in the water and the unfolding of life in balance. It was beautiful.

However, this feeling of harmony the dragon had, was destroyed by the presence of another being, entering its mind. Again. What was most annoying about this presence was not that it was intimidating, big or anything like that. In fact, it had none of these qualities. What was most annoying about this presence was the very way this presence was. The being with the huge body had never before sensed an aura like that. Sometimes it was strong, sometimes it was weak, sometimes it changed its strength on the whim of a second and at other times it wasn't there at all. The feeling the aura had to it was never completely the same, always a bit different, always with different colors, but always so rich and dense that it was nearly impossible to analyze it any further. It was as if this aura was...bubbly. But however the presence seemed to change, there was one constant element: Beneath the mix of colors and feelings always was an underlying shade of blue. The disturbing thing about it was the similarity between this color and the color of the dragon's own aura: It was the exactly the same. And more often than not some of the other colors in the aura seemed familiar to the being, as if it knew them. Not even the aura of direct offspring of the dragon was identical to its own, which meant that this aura was...partially itself? That didn't make sense.

The momentary resignation in the being's mind was closest to a mental sigh. It could do nothing about this annoying thing. It couldn't locate it well enough to know where it was and satisfy its curiosity. It could only wait and hope for the presence to reveal itself.

With another mental sigh Duplemar focussed again on the harmony around it, trying its best to ignore the new presence.

* * *

**- Sable Izolle -**

It was sad that Hubert wouldn't come with them to visit his own home. He had left the moment they reached Sable Izolle to report to the president. It didn't seem to matter that the sun had set a long time ago. He seemed to believe the president was still awake.

Far into the night they had finally reached Sable Izolle, exhausted from the fast pace the lieutenant had set. To top it all off, it had begun to rain only a few kilometres before they reached the city. Cheria, who had been wet to the skin by the time they arrived, had wanted to go to an inn immediately. But Richard, Asbel and Sophie managed to convince her to make a visit to Pascal first, while Malik observed all of it with his quiet grin. They knew that the Amarcian woman would still be up and they also knew the way to her house. The moon shone bright enough to see the streets, despite the rain. It was only barely enough to make out the way to the Amarcian.

All of them, except Richard, had visited her a few times already, ever since the president had gifted the house to Hubert and Pascal a few months ago. It had been a reward for solving the Fodra-conflict and the ownership documents had arrived together with an order that redeployed the lieutenant from Yu Liberte to Sable Izolle. The confusion about that had been big at first: Why remove the lieutenant from the capital, an important and powerful person such as him? Not long did Hubert have to wait for Paradine to reveal his motives: The man wanted Pascal in this city of intellectuals and he wanted her there badly, as close to the research tower as possible. Knowing that the Amarcian could care less for a house in Strahta with her home in Fendel and knowing about the relationship between his lieutenant and the ingenious woman, he had done the only thing reasonable. He gave her a reason to stay at Sable Izolle. He gave her Hubert. The lieutenant had shown displeasure at first for not being involved in such a decision. But the fact that he'd be living together with the woman he had been in love with for over eight months soothed his hurt pride surprisingly fast.

It was strange that the president didn't try to pressure Pascal into working at the research tower. He had simply said that he wanted her to live in the city. And time showed why: Even if she didn't go to the tower, other researchers would come looking for her to ask for advice or possible solutions to difficult problems. The Amarcian couldn't possibly deny such requests: Solving those riddles was far too exciting for her to stop it.

Before long, she was relied on to find solutions for problems that seemed unsolvable, inspiring seemingly impossible ideas, besides other things. She had evolved into the secret weapon of Strahta's science society. The advice alone she gave had been enough to boost the research speed in Sable Izolle to levels unknown before. And surprisingly it didn't lead to the Amarcian overworking herself. Most of the scientists were too proud to run to her at every little occurring problem, but did seek her out when they were stuck, saving them months of work if Pascal managed to help them. Therefore, she had enough time to do her own research. That mostly involved deciphering and recovering data from the lost archive, which she did with permission of the president and without payment. With the money she and the others had gained from the fight against Fodra, she didn't need it anyway. And it didn't hurt that the head of the research tower felt complied to pay her a small regular income for all the help they received from her.

Not unlike the archive of wisdom, the lost archive beneath the research tower was filled with information. But the amount of information was far greater than that in the archive of wisdom, due to the age difference between both. The lost archive had been around ever since the first Amarcian's had set foot on Ephinea and had built it. That had been far before Lambda even existed. The archive of wisdom was a child in comparison. Barely one and a half millennia old, it only contained a small part of data that was taken from the lost archive and only a relatively small amount of new research data had found its way into the records. Most data had been lost together with the archive until Pascal rediscovered and began to decipher it. That way, the Amarcian had always plenty of work if she chose that she wanted to do it.

It seemed like today was one of the days she decided to stop the work at night, because it only took her a few seconds to open the door after Sophie had knocked.

"Guys?! Sophie?! What are you...Aww c'mere youuuuu, let me touch you!"

Pascal greeted them, energetic as always. Happiness glittered in her eyes at the look of her old friends when she opened the door. And the moment she saw Sophie, she dragged her into the entry hall and clung to her like an octupus. Pascal didn't care if her friend was soaked to the bone, she only got to see her so often and those times had to count! That made her being soggy as unimportant as the fact that Sophie was now just as big as her.

"Getting your regular dose of Sophie, aren't you Pascal?" smirked the Captain behind her.

"Oh, shut up Captain. You're just all bummed out that I'm not hanky-panky with you as well. Isn't that right Sophie?"

With savoring closed eyes she pressed and rubbed her cheek against Sophie's, who now looked like she wasn't so sure anymore that letting Pascal touch her had been such a good idea. The Amarcian didn't care, a smile of pure satisfaction and bliss was spread out on her face.

Against the light that seeped out of her house it was hard not to notice how Pascal had changed since she moved in with Hubert. She had traded her cotton pants to short jeans that got slightly over her knees, just like the former pants. The jeans complimented her figure - a lot - just as well, but looked more durable...and also had more pockets. Furthermore she had exchanged her pocke-covered suspenders with a new belt on her jeans, that in exchange was covered with pockets again. Gloves did not leave her usual equipment, but she didn't need them in the house. Several different pairs were hung on hooks near the entrance. Beside them were a few blue coats that seemed to belong to Hubert.

That wasn't the only noticeable change around her. Though only a little bit, she looked more groomed, her hair looked healthier and more importantly: She looked clean. Like she had taken a shower just this morning. She still didn't wear any makeup, but Pascal didn't need that. She was naturally cute without it - something that Cheria slightly envied about her - and that surfaced so much more now, that she had started to take care of herself. Had Hubert managed to make her more aware of her looks? The man seemed to make wonders happen!

But even if her looks had changed a bit, she was still exactly the same person the five had traveled with during the Fodra-conflict.

"What are you waiting for, get in!"she called, still in a tight hug with Sophie.

After the group stepped in and managed to separate the two - which only led to Pascal hugging the rest of her friends just as tightly - the Amarcian walked further into the house to get something and began talking again.

"It's totally awesome that you came here, guys! The dragon and Valkines stuff got boring, so I got a little snack. Your timing is perfect!"

Inside the entry hall, the rest of the group scanned the area, checking if anything had changed since their last visit, or, in Richard's case, looking at the apartment for the first time. The house itself wasn't big, but it was comfortable. The smaller, white-painted hall they were in, with hooks on the wall for coats and gloves, led into a big room that was divided into two halves. It was the living room, and the kitchen, separated by two different floors instead of a wall. On the right was the kitchen with a fireplace for cooking and a rectangular dining table that was big enough for three people to sit on each side of it. The floor was tiled in white color. A door near the fireplace showed the way to a bathroom. On the left was the living room with a few armchairs and a sofa placed around a small decorative table. The colorful big carpet on the floor of the living room with its complex patterns gave the room a dignified air, while big windows behind the sofa made it more comfortable and inviting during daylight. Opposite of the entrance hall, a small floor led to stairs to the second floor, which contained the bedroom with a second bathroom and a study, as far as the group knew.

While her friends were scanning the first floor of the building, Pascal had walked to the kitchen and set her prepared snack on the dining table, namely a few pieces of banana pie together with a few bananas. What else could the Amarcian possibly be eating around here? She also got a few other plates and forks in case anyone wanted to snack with her.

Putting down the few extra plates she looked at her friends in the entry hall again and finally noticed how wet they were.

"Oh! Damn. Rain again, what a bugger. Wait, let me take care of this. Observe closely captain, I created this arte just for you!"

With closed eyes she murmured a few words and pointed with her hands in the direction of the five soaked figures. Multiple small glowing dots appeared around them, radiating warmth. Moments later the air began to warm up and suck the water out of their clothes. In a mere few minutes, they were dry again. With a satisfied grin and a few pearls of sweat on her forehead, the Amarcian looked at the captain.

"How do you think about this for the tiniest flame contest? Hundreds of tiny little flames around you to heat the air. Top that captain!"

The Fendelian man chuckled as he remembered how he had started the contest back then in Velanik.

"I guess I need to remind you that my flame was so small, that you didn't even notice it. Technically, I am still the winner."

His opponent tilted her head in thought, trying to remember said contest. She shot him an evil glare the moment she did.

"No fair captain, you cheated on that one!"

"Oh? Did I?"

"Yeah, but...oh forget it." she waved the whole thing off. While she looked down she noticed that her guests were still wearing their shoes.

"Oh, don't forget to get rid of your shoes at the entrance. Hu gets all angry and stuff when people step in with their shoes still on. He says it makes the floor all dirty. I think he needs to do some more of this training he does with his guys. Makes him calmer and easier to talk to. Anyway, why are you here? Is Windor in danger or something?"

The abrupt silence after her words told her that she had hit the nail on the head. It didn't take long for them to tell her their story, after they had sat down at the table. Pascal closed her eyes while they were talking, listening intently to every word. By the time they were finished telling what had happened, she had started to murmur.

"So a dragon in Barona as well, huh? Near Gloandi...All three of them...together...around the same time... "

The group could nearly hear the gears turn in Pascals head. As well as they could nearly see the lightbulb that popped out of her head.

"That's it! That's totally it! Awesome! ...Ooooor not so awesome... Dude, that's not good."

Her mood changed from euphoric to sober quickly. A bit too eager to get some information out of her, Richard involved himself in the discussion.

"What do you mean Pascal? What do you know?"

Unease flickered in the scientist's eyes and she seemed unsure if she should answer the question.

"You know, I save and repair data from the lost archive that's kicking around in the research tower. A few protocols and other stuff I saved before talked about three guardians that Fodra's core had implanted inside the Valkines, before the Amarcian's could ship them from Fodra to Ephinea. They installed the Valkines together with the Lastalia to make the whole system work and simply wrote down that Fodra had put something in there to guard them, as soon as they noticed it wasn't blowing same system up. It...It might be possible that those dragons are those guardians...and..."

She stopped, the unease now stronger, with her finger fiddling with a banana from the plate. occasionally she glanced at Richard, unsure how to continue while Richard waited for her answer. He didn't show any signs of impatience, but neither showed he signs of relaxation. Finally, Pascal continued.

"They...might have been activated by... what you did with Lambda two years ago. You know, the eleth-absorbing-stuff..."

Her voice broke as she looked at him. Richard's smile had faded and his shoulders just felt two times heavier. For a brief moment, his face betrayed his thoughts. He blamed himself for everything. But knowing that Asbel was observing him closely, he struggled to not show any further reaction.

Still unsure about Richard, Pascal continued.

"Anyway, those guardians do what Fodra sent them to do: To insure and protect the Eleth flow and its distribution...Since there's a threat to that distribution, they're all angry and stuff and do what they can to get rid of the threat. Well...and since they recognized Richard as human, we are the threat..."

Again, Richard's face betrayed him, if only for a small moment. It showed how guilty he felt. Before anyone could interrupt her, Pascal went on.

"But there is a chance! We can ask for help! It's not something great, but there is a chance it will work. You know, we always said that there is only three types of Eleth: Water, fire and wind. Every other sort of Eleth is a combination of those three. But that doesn't mean that there can be only three Valkines, you know. Do you remember those big crystals on Fodra? Those things that spread their Eleth in the air and which we had to neutralize? Those were some sort of mini-Valkines. They did the same thing as our Valkines, just with an eleth-mixture instead of pure Eleth."

She gave them a few moments to let the information seep into their mind.

"Apparently, according to the lost archive, there are some of those mini-Valkines on Ephinea! Together with other guardians! Their position just were lost a long time ago. It seems like nobody cared about those smaller Valkines when there were the three big ones around. Or they were simply hidden from others for politics or whatever. Anyhoo, we know that there are some on Ephinea. And we also know their former position and that they haven't been activated, since there's no fourth dragon flying around. If they are programmed the same way those other guardians are, we could maybe try to convince one that it wasn't everyone's fault. Maybe we can explain to them what happened two years ago or something, so they understand how wizzy-wazzy this whole thing was and show them that they should help us. And maybe, with them as support, we can get the other Valkines dragons to stop. "

Pascal looked around after her last words and met many doubting faces.

"Look, I know we risk a lot by doing that, but it's just like it was back then with Sophie: We're running out of options here. Those dragons won't stop for anything less than destroying us and we can't defend ourselves forever. Especially not if one of them decides to visit another town."

Before anyone could say something else, Richard raised his voice.

"I agree with Pascal. It really looks like the best idea to seek their help. And I am certain that we will be able to convince them what truly happened. It will give us a chance at least"

Asbel could nearly hear his friend think.

'And it will give me the chance to stand up for my deeds and pay the just price for them'

He watched his king with eagle-eyes. Not one moment did he believe that Richard was completely honest with what he had said. The lord knew him too well to do that. But a gentle squeeze of his hand beneath the table and a calm, knowing glance from his wife were enough to not bring it up. Right now.

"I think that we still lack a crucial detail," began Malik "How should we drive one of those guardians out of its Valkines? Lambda is still sleeping and Sophie can't do it."

The concern in his words carried through the room. But Pascal was quick to dismiss it.

"I'll figure something out when we get there. Actually, that part will be the easy one, since we can do all kinds of stuff. We have to find one first though. And that will be kinda, sorta tough."

Asbel raised his eyebrow.

"Wait, didn't you say that we have their location?"

It looked like that annoyed his female friend.

"Well duh! But those were the locations of a few thousand years ago! They now can be who-knows-where doing who-knows-what or something. The locations give us a starting point where to look, but that's about it. If we consider plate tectonics I might even be able to get us somewhere near it. Anyhoo, that still won't save us the search."

The group took a moment to think about what the Amarcian had just said. This time, Asbel was the first to talk after the pause.

"We'll have to settle for this plan then. Pascal is right, we need the help. We can't count on defeating them alone. And we don't really have an alternative."

"I agree, we should find one of those other guardians." Cheria agreed.

Sophie simply nodded. As the glances went from her to Malik, who was still lost in thought. Then he nodded as well. They still needed Hubert's opinion on the matter, but his brother was sure the lieutenant would agree.

"It's a plan then. Where's the first place you would start looking Pascal?" asked Asbel the scientist.

She took a moment to think about it, then answered his question.

"I'm not totally sure if I remember it correctly, but one of them wasn't all that far from the Rockgagong-sea. We could start looking over there with a boat or whatever, it would be a start."

The general idea was good, but there was one question that was still left open, which was voiced by Richard.

"How do we find a vessel to travel over the sea?"

"What about the Turtlez?" Cheria threw in, which earned her a quizzical look from the rest of the group. Undeterred she continued.

"They lend their turtles for transportation, right? Turtles can swim and we could explore the Rockgagong-sea from their backs."

It took a few moments for the others to think about the idea, but they agreed in the end. Malik volunteered to negotiate with the Turtlez about this unscheduled trip to the Rockgagong-sea and inform them when he was finished. Asbel was sure that this would take the better part of the next day and mentally prepared for a late start to the trip.

Without another urgent topic related to the search to discuss, stopped talking. Awkward silence began to spread and made them all slightly uncomfortable. The group could feel the responsibility to stop this catastrophe on their shoulders, casting a glum shadow over the atmosphere. It was Cheria who finally managed to break the spell.

"Pascal, how are you and Hubert doing? I read the letter you wrote about you blowing up your robot again. I want to hear all about it!"

Proving that she didn't plan to leave anytime soon, she grabbed one of the plates Pascal had brought with her and a piece of banana pie for a snack while the Amarcian began to flush a bit without lowering her enthusiasm. A sheepish smile on her face and a hand bashfully scratching the back of her head she started talking.

"Well, you know, I kind of made teeny tiny miscalculation with the temperature the acclimation module could endure..."

And like that, the group was again in a bantering chat, laughing about stories of the more or less recent past, telling jokes or making fun of each other. Asbel's face became a mask of fear when he noticed Malik and Richard talk on the quiet, grinning mischievously in the lord's direction from time to time. Meanwhile, Cheria enjoyed Pascal's stories and tried to subtle - and sometimes not so subtle - extract any information possible from the Amarcian about the relationship between her and Cheria's brother-in-law. New ammunition for well-timed teasing was always welcome. Sophie listened most of the time, switching between Pascals talk and Richard's and Malik's teasing of Asbel.

Almost forgotten was the trip they had been planning and the foreboding feeling with it. The worries of the world could wait for a bit. Now was the time to enjoy some good company with friends.

* * *

Sable Izolle in daylight was a completely different view than at night. Actually, it was a completely different view from every time the Asbel had seen it before, once he got a look at it. The desert city was no longer that. It was green. Even more than this, it was flourishing. Asbel and Cheria had just taken one foot outside the inn to take a walk and immediately felt themselves gaping.

In the past it had never been possible to successfully grow anything other than Strahta cacti anywhere even remotely near the city. The city had been a few houses, built on top of the rocks protruding out of the moving sandsea beneath them, that were connected via hanging bridges. It had to be supplied from Yu Liberte and Oul Raye to keep the inhabitants alive. There had been only three reasons for the city to even exist: The research tower on several floors of Amarcian ruins, the inn for a rest on the way to the capital or the seaport and lastly, to act as a strategical key point to protect one half of Strahta if the other was overrun by enemies. If the inhabitants of Sable Izolle decided to cut even one of the bridges, nobody would be able to cross the canyons that separated both halves of the continent. At least until somebody built a new bridge, which was nearly impossible without help from the other side.

Now every single spot of rocky surface that wasn't overshadowed by other plants or used as walkway was filled with greens. There were even some trees around that shouldn't have been able to grow around here, much less in the small amount of time since Asbel had last visited the city or on this hard ground. But not only was the city now filled with plants everywhere, even the canyons had changed. Water filled them so high that the surface of it even touched some of the lower hanging bridges. A drop into the deep now didn't ensure death anymore. Instead, it invited a cooling dip into the water. If one was brave enough to jump ten to twenty meters into the depth. Several of the houses on the lower levels were flooded just as well as the deeper levels of the ruins on which the research tower was built.

The surroundings however, weren't the only thing that had changed. The activity in the town itself had increased, like in every town before. People were walking, standing, sitting and talking everywhere, avoiding the searing heat that hit them from above by placing themselves beneath the shadows of palms. Some of the activity could be explained via the numerous workers that walked around, carrying tools, wooden planks, nails or other things needed to strengthen the defenses of the city. A primary wall and other contraptions had already been built, but they needed some reinforcement. Apart from the rest of the buildings a few rectangular areas had also been marked. Rather impressive amounts of construction workers were on them, building thick stone walls, digging into the ground or installing water pipes. They had to be building new houses for the now homeless people.

Still surprised about the immense change and the bustling activity in the city, Asbel and his wife continued their walk. They tried to take in every change they noticed to rerate the current condition. So far the only thing that had happened ever since the Valkines guardians had left their place inside the crystals was death and destruction. There was enough destruction to be seen in Sable Izolle, but there was also something different. They were able to watch another side of it: Life and revival. It showed just again that there were always two sides of a coin, though that part seemed lost to many of the Sable Izolle's inhabitants. Especially the new ones.

At least every tenth person Asbel spotted showed the same signs he had seen in Gralesyde. A slightly to obvious tear in a piece of clothing, an unsure smile, a haunted look in the eye. Those things gave the people here away rather quickly. It seemed like a few villagers had come to the city in the hope of finding safety. If simply out of fear of the monsters or because their village was destroyed was nothing Asbel could tell just from looking. But he was willing to bet that not too many of the Strahtans had been willing to give up their homes due to the former reason. It gave the otherwise flourishing and vital city a glum side note. And it also remembered Asbel what the people in Gralesyde must be going through. He hoped that Duke Dalen had found a way to improve their situation and that the city was still safe.

The sight of a familiar face forced him back to the present. To his surprise, it was Hubert. It didn't take long for the couple to be discovered themselves by the young lieutenant. Recognizing Cheria, he first raised an eyebrow, then his eyes narrowed a bit as they turned towards Asbel. With his usual confident and purposeful steps he made his way over to them.

"Good to finally see you, brother" Hubert greeted, his posture stiff and a hand stretched out for a handshake.

Asbel returned it and he felt... wrong. He and Hubert had done this before, but it felt awfully formal this time.

"Good to see you too, Hubert. We missed you yesterday"

Again, Hubert's mimic betrayed for the fraction of a second signs of anger and sadness. They disappeared just as quickly as they had shown, which made Asbel ask himself if he was just imagining things.

"I know. Pascal informed me about it when I came home yesterday night, after you had all returned to your quarters. Unfortunately the president wanted a full report on the situation, so I didn't have the leisure to appear."

Asbel ignored the stinger of his brother that he could notice very well. The way he was acting surprised the lord. If he hadn't been sure when they had first met Hubert in the desert, he was sure now: The lieutenant was mad at him for some on Ephinea had he done?

"Did Pascal tell you about our plans yesterday?" he started a new topic.

"Yes she did. In fact, that's a matter I wanted to discuss with you. Or to be more precise, I wanted to ask you a question about it: What were you thinking brother?"

The way the lieutenant emphasized his last question in irritation annoyed Asbel. He grew more irritated by his brother himself, the more he talked like that.

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

Hubert didn't seem to care beating around the bush.

"I am talking about the idea to use the turtles to explore the Rockgagong-sea. Have you spent any time thinking about how vulnerable we will be on those beasts? Or that our enemies could be attacking us any moment while we'd be sitting on these turtles? They are dragons, Asbel! They can fly! Even some of their minions are able to do that. And you wish to take that risk while we still have the shuttle back in the seaside cavern!"

Asbel still was able to hide his sparking anger at the accusations. Was Hubert really mad because of this? Was he that angry simply because of such a small problem?

"We don't have the time Hubert, I thought you knew that. It would take us a whole week simply to sail back to Lhant and another day to get to the shuttle in the seaside cavern and fly it over. We would still have a harder time finding anything because the shuttle can't hover over a place and let us look around. Are you sure that this is really what this is about?"

His answer made Hubert narrow his eyes again.

"And you think it would help our time to pointlessly endanger ourselves? Do you have any idea what enemies await us there? Brother, you can't go on such a journey without the least amount of preparation. This is going to be far more dangerous and if we wish to outlive our enemies, we are going to need better protection than this!"

Feeling that the tension between the two siblings became a bit too much, Cheria intermediated.

"What's wrong, Hubert? I've rarely seen you this angry before."

"There's nothing wrong with me. I am _angry_ because I deem this risk to be unnecessary, to say the least. I am _angry_ because I can't believe that my brother is foolish enough to gamble with our lives like that, while we still have other options available. I ask again, Asbel: What were you _thinking_ ?!"

Hubert shot back, giving her a short scowl before his eyes fixated his brother again.

"Hey! I only did what I thought was best! And I'm still convinced that it's the better way. We can't waste our time like that, not when we need to save the people from those dragons!"

Asbel's self-control crumbled at the accusations he had to listen to, coming out of the mouth of his own brother.

"So you think it would be easier to do that as corpses, I suppose?"

Hubert wasn't any better off than Asbel, but showed even less self-control. This wasn't like the usual lieutenant at all. Lhant's lord opened his mouth to give a fitting reply, but again, his wife stopped him.

"Stop it now! Both of you! We have other things to do and worry about. We all decided that we would use the turtles, Hubert, not just Asbel. And we will do just that."

Her words were determined and her voice calm, forcing Hubert to direct his eyes to her. For a moment the lieutenant looked like he wanted to say something. Instead, he simply turned around and stormed off, his cloak waving behind him.

Neither Asbel nor Cheria talked until he was out of sight. The lord was the first to ask the obvious question.

"What has gotten into him?"

"Un-believeable. He never did this before. Not even after he returned from Strahta and exiled you. Why is he so mad? It couldn't be that..."

She stopped abruptly.

"That what?" her husband probed into the subject.

"Um...Yesterday when you were talking with Malik, Richard and Sophie, Pascal and I had a small discussion about how Hubert was dealing with the situation. She mentioned that he sometimes acted overprotective of her when they talked about what they should do against the dragons. As if he couldn't stand her to be in danger. But I didn't think that his reaction would be this strong."

Asbel was absorbed in thought for a second.

'That's not like him at all. There has to be more to it than that. Hubert would never lose control like this just because he's worried.'

He shared his thoughts with his wife, who in turn took some time to think about his words. A shrug finished her trail of thought and she answered.

"He will show us what's wrong. Either him, or Pascal. Maybe we'll understand him better once we know whats going on. Either way, we can't do anything about it at the moment."

She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. Asbel scratched the back of his head with his free hand as he looked into the direction Hubert had went. His voice showed that he didn't like the way things stood between him and his brother.

"I sure hope you're right about that."

* * *

**A/N:** I normally would've finished this chapter three days ago. But somehow it just ended up being longer again than I anticipated and I had barely finished the discussion in Pascals house back then. Damn man. I planned for five, expected seven and got ten pages of text in the end. Ever since chapter 4, things got out of hand with writing.

Anyway, I'm proud of Pascals dialogues. It was fun writing her. It's not perfect, I admit, but I think it was good.  
But what I'm really anxious to reveal in full show is Hubert. Damn I'm preparing so many motives for him to do stuff that his actions in the end will just be a big mix-up of different motives. Can't wait to show that. Must be confusing right now ^^

Though I'm still anxious about how well I'm able to deliver all of this. And of course if I get overly repetetive at some point. Again, feedback welcome, I can't improve by rereading my stuff alone.

**D-Drive:** Wow. I...I feel dumb. To think that I haven't been able to get something that simple back then in school...holy shiver. Thank you! The starting point for the conflict I mentioned will come in one or two chapters, though there is already a very small amount of hints in this chapter what exactly will start it.

I'd be curious how exactly you come to your conclusion who exactly will be involved. Not saying that you're correct or incorrect in any way. I'm simply interested in your ideas. And I guess I'm vain enough to like discussion about my work ^^

**Update 17.04:** Beta-proofread!


	6. Chapter 6: Of loss and consolation

**Disclaimer:**

Fairytale-Disclaimer? Check  
Singing-Disclaimer? Check  
Doctor-Disclaimer? Check  
Doctor-Song-Disclaimer? Check  
What's left? To own Tales of Graces of course! Sadly, I don't own Tales of Graces or any of the character included in the game. I do however own characters I create and of course the story I write here.

* * *

**Chapter 6: Of loss and consolation**

**- Desert between Sable Izolle and the Rockgagong-sea - **

It had been just like Asbel anticipated. After a long and tiring discussion with the Turtlez that gathered in Sable Izolle for trade and protection, Malik had finally managed to convince them for this extra mission. Or rather the Turtlez lending their mounts to the group. No amount of money would be able to get the merchants anywhere near the Rockgagong-sea with its huge amounts of potentially deadly monsters. Adding to that the new blue colored dragons that appeared with the bigger Valkines guardian and they had enough reason to decline any offer that involved them leaving the city. Also, the sum they had asked for was horrendous and had to be paid up front, like they were expecting to never see neither the group nor their animals again. The amount of money easily was enough to buy or raise three times the amount of turtles they were lending. Considering they were only lending them four turtles in total and that was even without the cabins on their back, it seemed quite impudent.

The only thing Asbel had not anticipated was that Malik would be able to finish the deal before dusk. Actually, he had managed to finish the deal barely past noon. Not wanting to waste any time they had prepared for departure shortly after Malik's notice and were ready to leave a mere hour later. Including Pascal and Hubert, later still showing his displeasure of the choice the group had made, though he did so mostly by only shooting angry glares at Asbel, who in turn did his best to ignore them by focussing on his mount. Lhant's lord would not act on his brother's feelings before the lieutenant had shown the true cause for his behaviour, just like he had agreed to with his wife.

That however did not mean he was able to stop from thinking during their traveling, even with his wife behind him on the turtles back to warm him to not think too negative thoughts. The discussion that would follow those thoughts as soon as she'd notice them was something he could very well live without. Despite this immediate 'danger' his mind started wandering while they left the city-walls behind them. Around them the landscape changed from fertile soil back to the more familiar sand with the occasional patch of quicksand and small greens on the sides. The sun also started to burn on their backs stronger than before, letting them feel the searing heat of the afternoon that the inhabitants of Strahta usually avoided by taking a break. Had it been impossible to sweat in the desert before, now they could. And they could do so very much, judging by the small amount of time it took for them to let the first sweat stains appear. It was a surprising discovery for Asbel because he knew it meant that Water-Eleth now was abundant in the air. But that discovery was not enough to distract him from his more worrisome thoughts.

Countless times he asked himself the questions that had accumulated since the day Barona had been destroyed: What was going on with Hubert? How could he find out when it was impossible to talk with him about it? How could he help him? How could he help Richard with his feeling of guilt? Would they be able to stop the dragons? Could he protect everyone just like he had sworn all those years ago?

He was lucky that he was steering the turtle in the back of the group, so the other members of the group and especially his wife weren't able to see his face. His feelings most likely were written all over it by now. However, something else must have given him away because not too long after he had started to increase his pondering, Malik steered his mount in his direction. He was the only one in the group without a partner on his turtle.

"Asbel, we need to talk"

The former instructor pointed on a spot behind him on his mount. Lhant's lord ignored the asking look of his wife as he handed her the reigns. Without saying another word he jumped from one mount to the other, graciously landing behind Malik and sitting down in one smooth motion. The older man smirked.

"Huh? I never knew they managed to get the importance of elegance under your skull back then in the academy."

Asbel raised an eyebrow at this remark, not sure if he should take the compliment or react to the joke on his costs.

"They didn't. I learned it through experience" he finally replied, a neutral tone to his voice.

"I guess you did." He looked at Cheria's turtle as he put distance between their mounts, making sure she was out of hearing distance. Once he was certain that she couldn't listen in on the conversation, he started to speak again, this time in a harsher voice he had often used as a teacher.

"I know this situation is taxing on you Asbel, but for the sake of all of us, get your act together! Concentrate on the task at hand and don't let yourself be distracted by your thoughts. I remember to have taught you this years ago, but you seem to have forgotten it. Doubting yourself now only weakens you on the inside, making the group as a whole more vulnerable."

His words were accompanied by an unnapproving glance over his shoulder at the lord. The pupil was caught off-guard. He hadn't expected an accusation from him of all people, especially not like that. Asbel's first reaction was being defensive.

"I...I know captain, but there is only so much I can do! My best friend drowns himself in guilt, my brother is mad at me for reasons I don't even know and the only thing I can do is watch! I can't rely on any of them to help me with what's wrong with them and both don't seem to be able to solve their problems! You can't expect me to just ignore that!"

His first reaction was strong and he felt like Malik was being unfair. But the way his teacher's look softened by his words made him wish he hadn't sounded so rash. His teacher waited a bit for Asbel short flash of anger to disperse, before he began to talk again, this time with a more calming voice.

"Asbel, let me tell you a story from my time in Fendel. Back then, I had a friend that used to do the same thing you do. Instead of talking honestly with the people he cared for the most about their problems, he tried to solve them for them. It worked most of the time, but in the end, he lost someone very important to him by lying to the person to get her to safety. He never told her why and she died in an attempt to spite him. He never fully recovered from it as far as I know. The last thing I've heard of him was that he still regretted not talking to her about it..."

His last words summoned the taste of lilac liqueur on his tongue. Silence spread between them until Asbel broke it with a question.

"Who was she to him?"

His question made the Fendelian man turn his head to watch in the direction they were moving. Had Asbel been able to see his former teachers face, the former pupil would have seen a painful smile.

"She was the person he loved the most."

Another small silence. Asbel felt small now in the presence of Malik. He knew he had no reason to, but there was something about the way Malik could act that made him forget sometimes that the Fendelian wasn't his superior anymore.

"So you want me to talk with Hubert and Richard about it..."

"If that stops your thoughts from running wild, yes I do."

His words were meant to be a pregnant finish to this conversation. But the effect was lost by what happened soon after he spoke them.

"...whoa, what on Ephinea..."

The turtle they were both sitting on had started to strain against the commands of the captain and did anything possible to avoid moving in the direction the captain wanted it to go. It didn't want to move any further to the sea. It sensed danger up ahead. How the turtle had gotten that impression however, the lord couldn't tell. There were no enemies in sight around them and he couldn't sense any otherwise, though his view at the front was obstructed by another sand dune. Besides that, it didn't look like there was any form of life in this area except them. The emptiness was almost unsettling.

While the lord of Lhant looked around he saw that the other turtles steered by Cheria, Pascal and Richard seemed to do the same as Malik's. He was just about to question the sanity of their mounts when he noticed the reason for the disobedience. Or rather, he heard it. Carried by the wind that blew directly in their faces came the muffled sound of heavy footsteps to their ears. Especially heavy if he regarded the fact that sand usually absorbed sounds like this, even from the heaviest monsters this desert usually had to offer.

And he wasn't the only one who heard them. Looking to his left he saw an awestruck Pascal muttering a few words to Hubert, who couldn't suppress a small smile hearing them. It was the first smile Asbel had seen on his face since he had met him in Strahta and it surprised the lord how much he had missed this expression on his brother's face. A further look around showed him that the rest of the group didn't look any different than Pascal: Confused, impressed and alarmed.

It seemed like the thing that made these steps hadn't noticed them yet, an advantage the redhead behind Malik didn't plan on giving up. Fully stepping into his role as a leader he pushed aside this small awkward feeling of telling his ex-mentor what to do and gave the muscular man a small tap on the shoulder

"Malik, lead the turtles out of hearing range and then come back with the others. We meet back here as soon as possible."

With a silent gesture he signaled the other riders to follow Malik. After dismounting he indicated the remaining two who didn't steer a turtle to do the same, which effectively meant Sophie and Hubert, and to move with him towards the sand dune. He couldn't help but notice his brother's looks at him while he did so. Hubert's glances at him still were infused with irritation and anger, but at least he was still level-headed enough to not act upon it at the moment.

The turtles were out of sight soon, leaving Sophie, Hubert and Asbel who crawled up the sand dune towards the origin of these heavy steps. On the way up Hubert was silently cursing because of all the sand that got under his uniform and stuck to his sweaty body. But at the sight of what was in front of them as he raised his head to look over the sand dune, this soon stopped.

A few hundred meters away stood a dragon. Though it was not one of _the_ dragons, it was still a dragon, a terrestrial cousin of the flying wyrms that had attacked Barona in the company of the giant green beast. Pascal had said something about them being around before.

However, the body of this dragon was far more massive compared to the wyrms, relying more on his heavy protection with its hard, smooth-looking, pearl blue and shimmering scales to defend itself. They looked like they would repel any attack, regardless of how strong it was. The massive body was propped up by four equally massive, but short legs, each thick like a bundle of four palm trunks with claws that could easily decapitate somebody that got inside its range.

But what was most impressive about this dragon was its sheer size. A normal dragon wouldn't have surprised neither Asbel, nor Sophie or Hubert, though it was unusual for a terrestrial dragon to be in Strahta, which was far better known for its wyrms. They usually had the height of one and a half humans and were just as wide. This dragon however was twice as big as any other Asbel ever remembered seing. There were no questions anymore why the turtles didn't want to move on. Something like that would have ripped them apart even with their incredibly hard shells. It made Asbel question where such a thing could possibly obtain the necessary amount of food to stay alive.

As they watched the big reptile it took another few steps, directed towards the Rockgagong-sea. It had its back to the group, which most likely was one of the very few reasons the turtles had been able to sense the dragon before it was able to sense them. Crouching back down the sand dune, out of sight of the enemy, Hubert began to whisper, a slightly hectic tone mixing in his voice, his body trembling. If in fear, anger or another emotion, his brother couldn't tell.

"We have to slay this beast! We can't allow any of them to stay alive and be a potential threat for the people. No matter the cost, if we don't kill it soon, it will kill innocent..."

"Woah, calm down Hubert. I know what you mean, but I don't think we should be attacking it alone. Let's wait for the others for now. The pace this dragon is moving will give us a bit more time think of some plans."

His attempt to calm his brother didn't seem to work at first. But when Sophie supported her father by taking his hand it at least stopped him from trembling..

"Yes Hubert, let's wait for the team and make a plan. We can defeat it with teamwork"

Unrest shimmered in the eyes of the lieutenant even though Sophie's words softened the hard look on his face. His body language still showed some signs of protest, but Asbel knew that his brother acknowledged his thoughts and that they were right. However, the lord of Lhant did not ignore the way Hubert had suddenly become overly hectic and careless. He just added it to the list of things that made no sense to him about the lieutenant's behaviour. Something inside him couldn't wait to confront Hubert and finally find out what was wrong, but this could wait until later. After they had defeated the dragon and had some time to rest.

The list would just have to get longer in the meantime.

* * *

It didn't take long for the four turtle-riders to return to the sand dune they had departed from. The turtles themselves were safely secured at one of the very few remaining palms in the desert, a 15-minute walk away from them. Under the burning sun and far out of hearing range of the dragon that had stopped them, they started to develop a strategy.

"We don't have the time to make these tedious plans! We have to strike swiftly or the dragon will escape!" Hubert began, again with irritation in his voice.

Pascal by his side gave him a small look and Asbel wasn't sure if it was empathy or annoyance.

"Hubert, settle down. We have never seen a dragon like this before and you know that. Not even the monsters at Fodra's core were that big. We have to tread with care or we'll end up like corpses," the lord said.

His words were meant to remind his brother of the accusation the lieutenant himself had thrown at him only a few hours ago. It seemed to work, though it only managed to get him a scowl from Hubert. Before Asbel's brother could form an answer, Malik continued.

"Ok everyone, what do we know about dragons? The smaller ones have scales that protect them from Cryas-Artes, which means our most effective weapons are physical attacks. That means I, Pascal and Cheria won't be able to attack directly, but maybe we can distract it long enough for the rest to make a critical hit. They are slow, but deadly in their attacks, so we have to be quick. If we assume that this dragon being bigger also means that it's better defended, we should focus on few but stronger attacks. Any suggestions?"

It came as a surprise that Sophie was the first to answer, who usually didn't involve herself in tactic-planning. Something had to be different this time.

"I can do it. I can try to hit its weak spot, then everybody can attack!"

Malik raised an eyebrow but didn't reply. Instead, Richard continued her idea.

"Asbel and I will support you, Sophie. Malik, are you able to hold the dragon long enough so we can attack it?"

For a moment Asbel wasn't sure how to interpret his friend's initiative. It sounded reasonable to give Sophie back-up. On the other hand, it might put Richard in unnecessary danger. Unsure how to react he remained silent.

Meanwhile, the captain thought for a moment before he slowly shook his head.

"This beast is too big to be held down. I doubt I'll be able to do that. But I might stand a chance with others."

"Maybe Hu and I could freeze it together with you old man, that could totally work. And it would give Sophie the chance she needs to attack. How about it captain?"

Pascal either didn't care or didn't notice that her love didn't look pleased that she spoke for him, even if he didn't voice it. But then again, he looked irritated about nearly everything and didn't say why. Again Malik contemplated a while before an answer came over his lips, choosing to ignore Hubert's facial expression just like the rest of the group.

"That could work, if we give it the right timing."

Again Richard took over the initiative.

"I think we can agree then. Asbel, Sophie and I will attack the dragon, you, Pascal and Hubert will try to slow it down to the best of your ability."

The king turned to Cheria, who had listened to the discussion silently so far.

"Cheria, it would be of great importance for you to distract the dragon in the beginning until it is frozen. Your distance attacks and healing would be a great asset in the fight itself as well. Is that acceptable?"

Asbel's wife simply nodded while she tried to read Richard's expression without being too obvious about it. Ever since her king's breakdown in Gralesyde, she had started to share her husband's worries about him and paid more attention to his behavior. Just like Asbel before, she wasn't sure how to react to the king taking control of the planning.

"I suggest we don't waste any time then. Hubert is right after all, we are endangering innocent citizens by letting this beast live longer than necessary. We should strike before another person has to die," his last words were accompanied by a firm look in Asbel's and Cheria's eyes.

He couldn't completely grasp it, but somehow Asbel had the feeling that Richard had just told them between the lines that he had noticed their efforts to understand his motivation.

* * *

The execution of their attack was perfect. Nobody bothered with a try to sneak up on the creature which would've smelled them far earlier anyway. Instead, Sophie, Asbel and Richard charged with a battle cry. The other three stood not far behind them at the foot of the sand dune that had obstructed their view, the sun shining at their backs and dazzling their enemy. Swiftly they rushed through the sand, getting closer to the beast that faced them now. As a response the big dragon growled and began a tail spin. None of the three even acknowledged its movements just a fraction of a second before the tail would have hit them. It was as if time stood still. Not slowing down for one second Sophie ducked, Asbel somersaulted over the tail and Richard made an elegant roll forward. Then the three of them split up to move around the dragon.

As the tail moved away it revealed Cheria behind the first group of attackers, ready with several daggers she threw at the beast. For the fraction of a second, the small ocean of sharpened Eleth-recreations of her original dagger glimmered green in the sunlight before they hit their mark. None of the daggers aimed at the head hit, missing their target or being reflected by scaled eyelids, but several of the ones she threw at the body stuck and made the dragon howl an angry shout. However it wasn't a shout of pain, since the daggers didn't get past the outer scale layer. The anger of being attacked was enough for the dragon to shout.

Distracted by the female dagger-thrower the big beast didn't notice the first attack group getting behind it. What it did notice was the sudden stiffness in its joints and the sudden drop of temperature around it. Movement slowed around it while several big blocks of pure ice dropped continuously on it, mostly repelled by the scale-armor. Still, the impact managed to shake the massive creature and disorienting it.

"Sophie! NOW!" shouted Malik, his forehead covered in sweat by his struggle to continue the assault of ice blocks. Meanwhile Pascal drove away every little bit of heat around the creature with the support of Hubert, who infused his guns with frozen water-eleth to create ice wherever his bullets hit their target.

The ex-humanoid had finally gotten in the shadow behind the dragon who was staggering now under the constantly falling blocks. Without wasting any time she jumped towards it, performing a full spin before her right heel hit the creature hard on a particularly big scale in the neck. In perfect balance she used her left foot on the scaly-neck to leap away and land in between Asbel and Richard who themselves each attacked one of the tree-trunk-hind-legs with a heavy cut. Jumping back and besides each other they prepared their last assault. Both sword-fighters lowered their swords with the flat side upwards which allowed Sophie to jump on them. With muscles gained by hard training through years they swung their swords upwards and allowed Sophie to spring into the air, using the momentum of their movement to gain additional height and get above the dragon, avoiding the falling ice blocks while doing so. As the gravitation pulled at her with increased speed, she somersaulted again, adding the momentum of the circular movement to her kick and placed her heel again on the very same neck-scale she had struck before. An audible crack could be heard throughout the sands while she jumped and landed a safe distance from the beast, that let out a silent shout again before it collapsed and stopped moving.

Not a second later Malik dismissed his spell, falling down on his knees after he did so from the sheer strain of the Arte. Beside him, Pascal and Hubert were breathing heavily under the setting sun as the tension on them created by their own Artes slowly left them. Meanwhile, Cheria ignored all forms of grandeur appearance and ran forward to her husband and embraced him strongly. She couldn't stand seeing anyone she loved in danger, even if only for a moment. That part of her personality had never changed. Relief flooded through the group as they realized something.

They had done it, they had killed the dragon.

But one of the group wasn't satisfied with the way things had turned out.

"That was too, easy," the captain murmured to himself.

Something didn't feel right to him, he was suspicious. No plan ever went perfectly according to expectations. That's why they rarely helped and intuition was so important in battle. Carefully he scanned the creature lying in the sand far away from him. A curse got over his lips as he noticed that they had let their guard down far too soon.

"ASBEL! CHERIA! LOOK OUT!" was all he could yell at the top of his lungs before the supposedly dead dragon got up and used it's tail again. It was trying to hit the embracing lovers who were the only targets on the edge of it's range.

Time slowed and like so many times before, the wife was faster reacting than her husband. In an attempt to get him out of range of the attack she pushed Asbel away who only managed to shoot her a look of panic and utter betrayal as she stayed in the range of the attack, prepared to be hit. For a moment, it really looked like the lord of Lhant really would be safe. But then the sharp tip of the tail hit him, cutting deep over his chest and he fell into the sand, coloring it red. The horror of this scene lasted only shortly for Cheria, before the dulled side of the tail knocked her breath out and made her fly through the air, leaving her unconscious.

With a snort and something that had close resemblance to a groan the dragon stood up again, looking towards the small group of casters.

Surprise mixed with fear in Malik as he realized that besides the incredible anger in it's eyes nothing seemed wrong with the creature. He couldn't even see a scratch as it faced the Fendelian and his group.

As frightening as this change of situation was, something else was even more frightening.

"ASBEL! NO!" a drawn out yell of pure horror and pain rang out behind the beast.

The air around Sophie was crackling, heavy with power as she unconsciously focussed the every piece of Eleth in the surrounding desert. Her gazes was fixed on the motionless, bleeding body on the ground before it moved on to the dragon. In the fraction of a second, the horror and pain changed into fury.

"YOU! YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!"

Nobody could have stopped the humanoid as she started her assault. The distance she had walked in the small time she had thought her enemy dead was past her in an instant and her first punch ripped right through the leathery membrane of it's left wing. This was only the beginning. She wanted this creature to hurt, to feel the pain she felt, to beg for mercy. Her intensified anger made her see things through a red veil.

Jumping back and evading a claw that would have ripped her in half she began another attack, kicking at the left hindleg that seemed to be untouched despite the earlier heavy cut. Like that she continued her assault, energized by her raging fury, evading the slow attacks and landing a shower of kicks and punches that would have shattered any normal beings bones to dust. But its incredibly thick scales saved it from this fate, dampening the impact of Sophie's attack and reducing them to a barely unpleasant scratch to the beast. Regardless, Sophie continued, drawing the full attention of the beast to herself.

Malik knew that this could not go on infinitely. They had to act on something and they had to do so quickly or an attack would hit Sophie sooner or later in her frenzy. And retreat didn't look like an option. The situation didn't look good for any of them. Their resources were limited, he still wasn't able to cast any other complex Artes and they had just lost their healer and one of their front fighters, while the second one ran amok and the third stood still, shocked to see his friend in such a condition. Frantically he looked over the battlefield, analyzing their positions, trying to find something, anything, to work with, to attack a weak spot or prepare a powerful combo spell.

Had he not been so stressed he might have found it ironic that Sophie, the dragon and the camp of the three distance fighters were in a straight line, only Richard standing slightly apart. But this detail was overshadowed by a far more important one that he noticed while his eyes flew over the body of their enemy.

He had noticed a crack in one of the neck scales, supposedly where Sophie had struck the creature before. It was small and barely noticeable, but it was something he could work with.

"Richard! Help Sophie with evading the attacks! Pascal! Hubert! Ready as much of your ice-Artes as you can, I need you to cool down a certain spot on the dragon's neck as fast as possible. When I give the signal, fire at the spot that looks hottest to you!"

Without awaiting a reaction he prepared for his next attack. Closing his eyes to focus he channeled his remaining strength in this one last spell. This hit had to count. If it didn't, his friends would die. Blue flame's whirled around his Bladerang, changing it's cyan color to a just as bright glowing white that shone and seemed to compete with the sun. The heat around Malik had increased by a tenfold after a second, rising every instant he channeled further Eleth in his blade. But the old man didn't seem to mind. Then, the moment the magic became unbearable even for the Fendelian he finally threw it.

"Hey beast, try to endure this! Burning Calamity!"

As the Bladerang flew towards the dragon it set the air itself on fire, leaving a burning sea behind it. Just the moment before it was about to hit the head of the dragon, the beast turned towards the shouted words of the captain who stood behind it, allowing Richard to evade a claw that would have otherwise impaled him. The turn of the head made the Bladerang hit the exact place where the crack was and the blade bit deep into the scale. In a fiery explosion the heat that had been caged inside the metal was set free, enflaming the scale itself and even partially melting it. It ate through the scaly armor like Lava.

"Hubert! Pascal! Now!" Malik cried, followed by a growl of pain out of the throat of their thick-scaled adversary.

It only took a moment for Pascal and Hubert to combine their Artes. The heat of Malik's blade might have molted the armor, but the cold that followed froze everything in place in a just as extreme temperature shift. Icy bullets struck everywhere the heat of the Bladerang had reached while the air that had been previously burning started freezing right above the neck. The area that had been softened and melted by the heat was now cold and brittle. Again a painful growl echoed through the sands while the dragon finally ripped his attention off of Richard and Sophie and started walking towards the more painful threat, the three distance-fighters.

Still breathless from the strain of his earlier spell Captain Malik managed to shout the last command needed for his plan to succeed.

"Sophie! The neck!"

The exhaustion of the countless attacks seemed to have worn down the humanoid and her frenzy, because she understood what the captain meant the moment she heard it. A small glance and nod in his direction confirmed to him that she knew what he wanted her to do.

With a third battle cry she jumped on Richard's sword who gave her the momentum she needed, just like before, to get high enough above the dragon. This time however, she spun as fast as she could to add more power to her attack. Just when her rotary speed had increased to the point that her purple hair flowing around her white dress-armor began to blur into an ocean of purple and white, her heel struck the frozen scale on the neck.

The impact of her attack, as slivers of frozen scale flew past her with incredible speed and cut through her skin, swirled up the sand around the big beast. The shake that went through the body was enough to free Malik's Bladerang which in turn fell to the ground. Again Sophie jumped back, landing safely out of range of her adversary besides a heavy panting Richard and she immediately started looking out for movement.

Clouds of sand concealed the dragon's body, making it impossible to judge if they had won. They had to. No creature could survive an attack like that, it's spine should probably be shattered to pieces by now. It had to be dead. It just had to. It had no right to live anymore.

Then the clouds started shifting and displayed what Sophie had feared the most.

In front of them, bleeding out of several superficial wounds on its body and tears in its wings was the dragon. But he was still standing. And now he was raging.

"No," was all Sophie could whisper in desperation.

This couldn't be! She felt her heart trembling as her intensified emotions let her feel despair and coldness to an amount she never had before. Fear froze her movement while the beast fixed its furious eyes on the girl who stood behind it. Quickly it turned again towards her and Richard, covering the distance between them with slow but big and steady steps. It had nearly reached them when yet another yell rang out through the desert.

"You. Will. Not. Harm. My. Niece! Have some of this! And some of these!"

Hubert, who looked the least exhausted out of everyone in the group, had sprinted towards the dragon and was attacking its tail with his dualblade, leaving small cuts everywhere he struck. The Eleth-channeling didn't seem to have exhausted him even nearly as much as Pascal and Malik who were barely standing at this point. The lieutenant would make the beast regret turning it's back towards him for the second time.

Elegantly he evaded a tail swipe by jumping on said tail and running over the extended spine to the place where Sophie had shattered the scales. Small puddles of blood crusted the edges of the hole in the armor and soft flesh was showing underneath it. Hubert displayed a cold grin. They had their weak spot. He raised his weapon.

"Take THIS!" he shouted and buried the tip of his dualblade deep in the soft spot.

The lieutenant could feel his sword pierce the spine of the creature, severing the vital nerve fibers that connected the brain to the rest of the body. Even if this blow didn't kill, he had paralyzed the beast.

A grunt escaped the mouth of the dragon before it fell down on its stomach, no longer in control of its own body but eyes still fixed on Sophie. It couldn't breathe and was slowly suffocating because of this. The dragon was able to give the humanoid one last look full of hatred before the last glimmer of life left it's eyes forever. An empty shell was all that was left by what once had been a majestic form of life.

* * *

**- Lake Liberte -**

A giant body broke through the surface of the lake. Pearls of clean water sparkled in the setting sun before they fell back. Just like everything around Lake Liberte it was beautiful if you paid attention to it. But the body that had just broken through the surface did not.

Duplemar felt the pain of his own; The despair it felt as it slowly suffocated, unable to command its lungs. The anger that it were mere humans that caused its death, that they were able bring such anguish to it; a dragon that was supposed to be invincible! Duplemar felt the despair and pain of the smaller dragon mix with sadness as its last thoughts went to his own origin. It wouldn't be able to serve the source of its life anymore and it had failed to protect the Rockgagong-sea according to its orders. The last thought Duplemar could feel were its sadness that it had failed its creator, the great dragon of water. Then the mind-link broke and only emptiness was left in its place.

An angry roar, just like so many others roars that could have been heard this evening echoed over the lake. Only this time it made the lake itself tremble. Massive waves rolled over the surface, made by the mighty wings of the blue dragon as it flew towards the Rockgagong-sea. The humans had dared to touch its own offspring. Even more, they had dared to kill it. Duplemar would see that they would get an appropriate answer.

* * *

**- Desert between Sable Izolle and the Rockgagong sea -**

"Light, come to me," Sophie mumbled, kneeling in the sand, the remaining part of the setting sun on her back.

Light gathered around her, flowed through her, warmed every cold corner in her body and tried to soothe her aching heart. Her eyes were closed in concentration to focus the light enough in her core before she channeled it through her hands. In a beautiful display of different colors it enveloped the body of her father that laid in front of her, stripped of his shirt and jacket to not hinder what Sophie was doing. For a moment, it looked like Asbel Lhant was not of this world as the light mingled with his aura and flowed through him. Inside him it spread the same warmth that Sophie had experienced, gently closing remaining wounds, relaxing the strained muscles and lifting his worries from him. The light flickered again, then it was gone.

Sophie let out a silent prayer before she dared to press a hand on her father's bare chest like she had done so many times before this evening. Carefully she examined what was left of the cut that had nearly killed Asbel. A sigh of frustration left her lips when she noticed the same thing for the fourteenth time that she had tried to heal him.

She had only healed the wound superficially. Under the layer of closed skin, where the tip of the tail had cut through, the lord's flesh refused to connect. It wouldn't kill him, but there was no way her father would be able to fight with them. Judging by the amount of muscles on his chest that the tail had cut through, her father would be lucky if he was able to stand and walk.

"Gather light of life," she began another chant to heal the wound. The results didn't differ.

"Sophie, leave it for now. We have done all we can and even you have to rest. Let's wait until Cheria wakes up, maybe she can do something."

The elegant steps of Richard were accompanied by his calming voice. He didn't hesitate a moment to take her hands in his as he kneeled down and looked her in the eyes, trying to convince those purple irises of two very important things; that she had earned a rest for now and that everything would be fine.

For a moment, she didn't move, didn't even breathe. Then she threw her arms around the man who was her older brother for a tight hug, who immediately hugged her back. Suppressed tears flew freely from her eyes and trickled down on his black cloak and jacket. Like countless times in the past she cursed the gift of the little Queen that had heightened every emotion that she felt. It was a curse and a blessing all the same.

It had been a wonderful gift at first. When they came back from their trip to Fodra, she had experienced every thing like she saw it for the first time. Joy unknown had filled her at the sight of her sopherias. The blue sky made her feel free like never before and all the other things she had barely noticed in the past now all had a new look to them. Especially the smiles she could see when Asbel and Cheria were looking at each other had made her heart sing. Everything around her had made her happy and in turn, the people around her were infected by her happiness and returned it.

But in exchange for this gift, her other emotions were intensified as well. Never had she felt so sad, insecure and terrified at the same moment in her past. Sad was she, because of all the people who were close to her and were now hurt, insecure about what to do and terrified of the outcome this journey held for her and her friends. The fear she had felt the moment the tail had cut through Asbel and hit Cheria had been a wave that had carried her away. The mere memory of it was enough to make her want to run away and she was helpless against these feelings inside of her. Cheria, her mother, had told her, that in time she would learn to deal with them. But this time was far away from her now. And in this storm of emotions, unable to deal with them and without both her parents, Richard was her anchor.

"Why can't I help him Richard? Why do the people around me have to hurt?" she whispered in his ear between her sobs.

She didn't know that her words caused a bittersweet pain in Richard's chest.

'Because it's my fault and I constantly fail to take responsibility for it.'

The thought stuck in his mind, but he tried his best to ignore it. He had no time to wallow in his self-pity. Not now. He had to be there for his little sister, she needed him.

"I can't tell you why Sophie, but you have no fault in this. Don't tell yourself that. _Never _do that. Sometimes fate just doesn't show us why certain things happen."

He held her and stroked her purple hair gently as she silently cried at his shoulder until she had no more tears left inside of her.

A cold breeze reminded her that she was still outside in a desert during nightfall and a fair distance apart from the campfire the rest of the group had set up. It was as far away from the corpse of the dragon as possible without moving Cheria too much. Sophie had insisted that nobody touched Asbel so she could immediately start to heal him. It felt like that moment had been hours ago.

It seemed that Richard was thinking the same thing, because not soon afterwards she could hear him talking again.

"Let's go to the others and get you some rest. There is nothing we can do for now and you look exhausted."

She released him out of her tight embrace and he helped her stand up. Richard gave her hand a reassuring squeeze before he set it free and they carried the motionless body of their friend to the campfire.

The king hoped that she knew that she wouldn't have to fight her inner demons alone.

What he hoped she did not know was that she wasn't the only one having them. A sigh left his mouth.

It would be a long night for all of them.

* * *

**Remarks:**

1: For anyone who wants to know what the heck Pascal said when they first heard the steps:

"Dude, those must be some heavy foots doing these steps."

2: Yes, I just invented a new Arte with "Burning Calamity" and the name's terrible. Sue me or suggest something ;)

3: Hah, remember that skit with Malik in L&L where Asbel and Cheria ask him why he's still a bachelor? Man, there are times I simply love my memory for reminding me of small details like that (I mean the thing with the lilac liqeuer)

**Slightly bigger AN than usual:**

Wuhu, wrote my exam, had a five-day-vacation by visiting a friend and still managed to write a bit of stuff. Sorry for the late update, as I said, I was a bit busy. Played lasertag for the very first time in my life, had my first visit to France and also had my very first grilling night near a river. As an exchange, I wrote my biggest chapter ever - 10 proud sites of pure story - !

Ok guys and girls, I wish to make the following official: Aespren very kindly accepted my request to beta-read 'The dragon's uprising' (I'll make that shorter in the future with DU, too lazy to write the full name every time). I'm incredibly happy to have someone to proof-read my stuff and tell me what I did wrong and just want to say another big fat official thank you for that towards this guy. Aespren when you read this, add this thank you to the others I wrote ;-)  
You can actually see this guys influence on the first and second chapter at the moment. I already corrected a few mistakes there in grammar, spelling and style that were pointed out by him, though I'll add another paragraph here and there for more 'style-correction'.

On another note, I also want to thank the people that read this. I actually never thought my audience would consist of more than five people and was quite surprised when I suddenly saw that apparently a few more people than that decided that my other chapters were worth reading after seeing the first. So apparently, there seem to be way more than five people out there who read this story despite everything I thought. Thank you for that.

About the chapter itself...well, I didn't like this chapter too much, though I'm slightly proud of the outcome. The fight in the end was awesome for me, I love imagining and writing those. Though this time it was harder to include a full view on the battle situation when there are 8 people in total that can act and I want to include all of them in the battle. The entire fight itself was inspired by 'Frozen', I'm not entirely sure how myself. The scenes just came while hearing the music. Oh, and I loved writing the end of the chapter. Them feelings *_*

Another thing I want to add: I know it might seem like I'm attacking all of you with a spear on which is written "RICHARD AND SOPHIE IN LOVE!", but I'm not planning on a pairing like that. I just always had the feeling that Richard really saw himself in the position of an older brother/second father for Sophie, meaning that he cared for her really much, but more like for a child or a little sister. If my fantasy doesn't convince me otherwise, I won't write a pairing like that, though I keep the option open. I write an 'if' because my fantasy can do quite a lot of stuff. For example: I originally never intended to hurt Asbel or Cheria in the fight. Therefore, the last scene originally was never meant to happen. Stuff happens as I imagine the scenes and write them down.

And last side note: During the last four days I have not been lazy people! It took a while to correct chapter 6 and stuff, so I wrote a small side-fic-Oneshot to DU called 'The smell's uprising'. I'll release it as an external Oneshot as soon as I've corrected it. It's incredibly fluffy, read it at your own risk.

Anyway, see you next time with another Disclaimer, people ;-)

Update 17.04: Just put the last finishing touches on 'The smell's uprising'. You can find it under the stories I've published.


	7. Chapter 7: Questions and the impossible

**Disclaimer: **I own Capcom like RebukeX7 owns Spiderman and Marvel. Which means I don't.

* * *

**Chapter 7: Questions and the impossible**

**- Present - The desert of Strahta -**

Every living being had its very own aura. It was a mix of the aura of the parents, together with a part that was completely new, generated by Ephinea's core, the Lastalia which was the origin of every soul on the planet. The touch of the Lastalia was at all times visible in every living being on this world and since there was no other origin of Eleth on Ephinea, these three parts were all that influenced the auras of life. The only exceptions were the Valkines-guardians themselves and their own offspring. They didn't show any relation to the Lastalia because the guardians and in turn their offspring had their origin in Fodra and its core, with the offspring receiving the soul from his or her parental guardian - or guardians in case of the minor-guardians. In days that were now long in the past, every form of life had shown at least a small touch of the big planet through the aura of their parents, but ever since the contact between Fodra and Ephinea had vanished, the touch of Fodra had faded into nothingness.

That was the way auras on Ephinea had developed ever since the Valkines-dragons had appeared thousands of years ago. Never had there been any other exceptions to this principle.

Therefore Duplemar, who watched the camp of humans only a few hundred meters away from the corpse of his child, was in a state of utter confusion when not only one, but five auras dared to prove him wrong. Four showed clear signs of being touched by Fodra, something that should have been impossible. Especially not a touch that signified that their very soul had been formed on the other planet and especially not with a touch that was identical in all four of them. Even more impossible was that three of these four also showed signs of being touched by the Lastalia, indicating that they also had a part of their soul from Ephinea. This should not have been possible!

A soul could not originate from two cores at once, it could always have only one origin! To top it off, one of these auras had a strength far greater than any mortal being should have, nearly rivaling the aura of one of the lower guardians. This strong aura also contained the colors of all three guardians which should not have been possible as well. There was no known renegade at this time and even if there was, there existed no being in the universe except Fodra that contained all three kinds of Eleth. The Valkines-guardians had seen to that after the last catastrophe that had made Strahta a desert and Fendel a land of ice. Duplemar shuddered at the memory of his last fight against Nova before his attention returned to the group in front of him.

The irony of the situation didn't pass the dragon unnoticed when he recognized the aura of the mysterious presence that had annoyed the guardian so much near these impossible four. The dragon could recognize the shades of blue, red and green that danced around the campfire, invisible for the normal human eye but as bright as the fire for the guardian.

The big beast took a few minutes to watch this impossible group before he made a decision. Their appearance raised too many questions inside the guardian to simply kill them. He would catch them and he would question them until the dragon knew everything he wanted to know. It had been a while since anything had looked so interesting to him. The revenge for the death of the dragon's child could wait. Duplemar would not let this chance go to waste.

* * *

**- Two hours before -**

The glimmering light of the fire drew long shadows over the sand. Calm silence rested over the camp Malik, Hubert, Pascal and Richard had set up. The bedrolls they had brought with them did their best to protect the group from freezing in the ice cold desert while the fire offered a pleasant warmth to those near enough to feel it. A black silhouette could be seen in a sitting position on a rock near the fire, watching carefully over the desert around. Years of training and experience had shown Malik Caesar never to let his guard down during night watch. He would be a fool to not learn from these lessons. Still, the desert around him showed no apparent sign of life and his attention kept switching to the restless movements of Asbel who seemed to be having a bad dream. The captain sighed. He had tried to wake his friend before, but the lord didn't seem to react to anything that happened around him ever since the dragon had left him unconscious.

'Let's hope he will soon wake up from his slumber,' he thought to himself, before he forcefully drew his attention back to the desert around him.

* * *

**- ? -**

Darkness was everywhere. It surrounded him, played with his hair, filled his lungs, filled his soul. There was nothing but darkness. It was absolute.

In this darkness, Asbel Lhant was running. He didn't know why, he didn't know what he was running from, but he was running as if his life depended on it.

'Fool!' said a deep, old and bodiless voice behind him. Its sound filled the darkness and resounded in every fiber of Asbel's being.

'Fool! What have you done!'

He didn't know who was talking to him or what he had done, all he knew was that he needed to run. And that he needed to run faster when he noticed a fast approaching light behind him again like so many other lights he had outrun since he had found himself in the darkness.

'There is no running from it Asbel! Stop this pathetic display! Don't waste our time,' the voice said again, this time mixed with impatience.

Asbel didn't listen, he needed to run.

'What a pathetic excuse of a human. And to think you were the one who managed to defeat me. It insults me to think about it.'

An invisible wall in the darkness ungently stopped him. In a flash the light had reached him and surrounded him, robbing him of his sight with its dazzling brightness. Quickly he closed his eyes and covered them with his hand to protect them. Asbel remained in this position, unmoving and silent. For minutes he didn't dare to move a muscle until his eyes had adjusted to the new brightness and stopped hurting. They still began to water when he opened them, but he could ignore that over the sight that unfolded in front of his eyes.

He was surrounded by myriads of plants that all seemed to compete for the brightest and strongest shade of green. Mighty moss-grown trees, tall enough that he couldn't make out their peak and with trunks wider than he could embrace them stood around him. Below them, bushes, ferns and other plants competed for the small spots of light that got through the canopy of leaves. A snapped tree trunk stood in front of him and served as nourishment for other countless fungi and mosses. Not too far away from the idyllic scene the rippling of a river could be heard, mixing with the whispering of the leaves above him and the sounds of thousand animals and insects around him.

Asbel was in a forest. If he was right, it was a forest he had come to know very well. Though how this particular forest had managed to get into his dream was a miracle to him.

And Asbel was very sure by now that he was dreaming.

The sound of cracking dry branches behind him made the lord of Lhant spin around. In front of him stood a teal-haired small boy, only clothed in a white, unadorned robe. A discontent expression showed in the boy's eyes, which looked far too old for a child his age. The behaviour and expression of him was unsettling. He seemed familiar, though Asbel didn't know where he had seen him before.

"That you had to dream about this noisy forest of all places baffles me, human," said the deep, bodiless voice again that Asbel had heard before. At the same time, the small boy moved his lips, but Asbel didn't understand why. The voice couldn't possibly be...

"I don't even need to look in your mind to read the foolishness of your thoughts. It's astonishing how you could forget my presence, even if your dreaming state excuses your lack of memory."

This remark finally let Asbel recognize the small boy. There were not that many beings on Ephinea that loved to insult him with such passion.

"Lambda!? H...How? What are you doing here?" asked the lord, his bafflement clearly showing on his face.

"This is a question I would like to ask you, human. Why are you here? Why are you disturbing my slumber and my negotiations with Fodra? And what were you doing?" said the boy, still fixing Asbel with impatient eyes.

"Me? I didn't do anything! I just got here and I'm just as confused as you are. I just..." he stopped his mouth, trying to recall what had happened to him.

"There was this dragon," he began again, his eyes looking into the distance, "and we were on our way to defeat it to get to those other Valkines-guardians. We attacked it and defeated it, but it somehow stood up again and then I..." his eyes widened as he suddenly realized something.

"Cheria! What happened to her?! Is she ok?! Am I dead?!"

"Do not let yourself fall into such foolish desperation, human. We would not be communicating if you were not alive. But I do not know about your companion. You can look after her by yourself when you awaken. Before that, tell me, what enemy were you fighting that was able to do what I could not?"

Asbel could hear the sliver of irritation in Lambda's voice about the fact that the only person that Lambda had ever lost in a fight against, now had been beaten by someone other than Lambda himself.

His words however made the lord start brooding. Lost in thought he began walking around in circles in this endless forest he had imagined.

"I don't know. It was similar to one of those terrestrial dragons we fought before. You remember them? This one however was twice as big and its body had this strange blue glow. I've never seen a terrestrial dragon this strong before."

He tilted his head when he noticed how Lambda raised an eyebrow at his words. The bodiless being seemed lost in thought himself for a moment. Then Lambda asked the lord questions in an icy voice that gave the lord the impression that his life depended on his next answers.

"Have the Valkines reacted strange in any way before these dragons appeared? And why were you looking for other guardians? Answer quickly human, we do not have much time left before you have to awaken."

"Yes, they have. How did you know? The guardians inside the Valkines have appeared and started to attack the capitals of Strahta, Fendel and Windor. We are trying to find other Valkines and convince their guardians to help us against them and stop the fighting."

This time the look in Lambda's eyes hardened before he asked his next question.

"Did you kill this dragon that you were fighting against?"

"I don't know. I was knocked out before the fight ended. But if I'm still alive I think the others have probably..." before he could finish his sentence Lambda interrupted him in a very rare display of raw emotion.

"FOOL! How could you possibly do such a thing! You have just declared war on the only being that might have helped you!"

Angry, he threw his hands in the air and started to walk in circles. Then he stopped.

"You have to go human. You are lucky none of them has found you yet, but that will not be for long. Warn your friends and flee if you are still able to"

"Wha...Lambda, I don't understand? What are you talking about?"

"I said flee, Asbel!" repeated Lambda, this time with a voice that didn't allow any back talk.

Before the lord could reply, the small boy turned his palms towards Asbel and hit him with the equivalent of an Eleth-blast.

* * *

**- Present -**

Crashing head first into the head of one of his companions after awakening with a start was one of the less desireable ways for Asbel to leave the bed. A small light exploded behind his forehead and joined a burning pain across his chest while he fell back onto the ground. The one who had tried to wake him fell backwards with a startled cry.

For a moment the pain made the world spin around for the lord and he had to fight for air until a hand was firmly pressed on his chest and forehead. Two blinding flashes of light appeared and calmed his muscles, relaxed his cramping diaphragm and lungs and numbed his pain. It took a few moments before something besides his heavy breath reached his ear.

"Could you try not to wake up so abruptly next time, Asbel?!" said a female voice that sounded irritated and relieved at the same time.

Another small flash of light revealed to him the face of the silhouette that kneeled in the cold sand beside him. But the lord didn't need the light to know who had just tried to wake him. Even if Asbel couldn't deduce by default who this female had to be, he would recognize this voice anywhere. The way it emphasized his name in such an accusatory way was so familiar to him by now that he automatically felt like he had committed a crime whenever he heard it. No one but Cheria was able to fill his name with so much affection and could at the same time make him feel so guilty even if he hadn't done anything wrong in the first place.

He took in another deep breath before he tried to sit upright again and answer her. His efforts were rewarded with another sharp pain from his chest. A hissed curse passed his lips.

"Argh..."

Immediately his wife had her hand on his chest again and pushed him back in his sleeping bag while light flashed out of them to relieve him from his pain.

"Don't move! Don't even try to unless you want me to seal your movement."

Asbel was still too bewildered by the sudden pain that had suprised him twice to say something, but a look into his eyes told Cheria what he wanted to ask her.

"The tip of the dragon's tail cut..." she gulped when the still fresh images of the event appeared before her eyes again.

"It cut through you chest. It damaged the muscles and some ribs, anything else is fine. Sophie and I tried to heal it but..." Cheria gulped again.

"Sophie could only heal the skin above the wound. It's like our healing-artes are blocked. We can feel that your flesh is healing, but we can't do anything to support it."

She waited a second before she continued.

"I don't think you can fight Asbel. At least not for a month, probably more"

The carefully spoken words formed a cold stone in Asbel's stomach. Being helpless or useless was one of the things he feared the most. His past was full of moments like this and there was always somebody who had to pay the price in the end for his inability.

'Looks like the dragon managed to hinder us even after death' he thought coldly to himself.

But besides his growing feelings of frustration his mind began to tell him something. Something very important. Something he had just heard, but forgotten. What was it?

'Dragon...dragon...dragon..." his thought stopped when he finally realized what he should have been doing the moment he had woken up.

"Dragon! Cheria we have to leave! One of the bigger dragons is on its way to us! If it gets to us now we don't stand a chance!"

He tried to get up again but the burning pain in his chest reminded him that his upper body had other ideas about that. Another flash of light appeared and relaxed his muscles again. He could feel another hand grab his, but it wasn't the hand of his wife.

"Asbel, what's going on?"

Sophie's voice was filled with relief, but her father's sudden behaviour frightened her. He was breathing heavy again but started talking.

"I can't explain right now, but we have to leave. Now! Or we'll be finished!"

Around them, the rest of the camp had begun to awaken by the sudden ruckus caused by Asbel's talk. Three pairs of eyes threw tired and questioning glances in their direction while a tense Malik didn't even seem to notice him, his eyes looking for something far into the distance. He thought for a moment to try to catch the captain's attention when Cheria stood up to start talking again.

Or at least she attempted to.

A second after she stood on the cold sand a sudden strong gust of wind threw her back to the ground, making her wince in pain while she touched her ribs. A large shadow darkened the night sky as it passed over them. The earth shook from the impact of a heavy body and carried Cheria who had just managed to stand up, again off her feet, followed by another sound of pain. It didn't need the deafening roar of the beast to know what exactly had just landed near the camp, even if they could barely see the vast shape in the darkness.

Malik was the only one quick enough to react to the undesired company. With precise movements he began to draw in the Eleth around him to form one of his most powerful spells. In the few seconds he was busy casting, Hubert sprinted to his Dualblade and moved towards the giant monster together with Sophie. Later the lieutenant would ask himself how ridiculous their attack must have looked in the dragon's eyes, since they barely were the height of its claws. But none the less, their attack was powerful enough to buy them some time. Diving under or side-stepping several attempts of the dragon to cut them with its claws, they struck at every place of the dragon's body they could reach. The attacks were mostly reflected by the incredibly thick scales. The impact of the attacks however got through and at least distracted the giant long enough until they could hear Malik's powerful voice behind them.

"Dragon Slayer! Holy Sword!" A giant red sword appeared over the shadow and tried to pierce its heart. Before it could hit the beast however, it raised its head and picked the sword out of the air with its teeth. Another deafening sound echoed over the sand when it crunched the powerful Eleth-blade between them.

Every other attack that they wanted to initiate was immediately stopped by a second deafening roar.

They had barely recovered from that roar when blue orbs of water started to engulf the group. It was everywhere, forcefully entering them through their mouth and nose, drowning their lungs, flooding every hollow part in their bodies. Soon after the water had surrounded them it had also successfully invaded them as well as sealing the movements of their limbs. Immediately their instincts took over, contracting every muscle to remove the unwanted fluid from the body. But the moment the muscles relaxed, the water forced its way in again. This process repeated itself over the minutes until their bodies had accustomed to the unusual amount of fluid. Only then did they notice that, disregarding every logic, they could breathe in the water. It would have been a very interesting discovery, if a moment of realization didn't hit them soon afterwards: The fight was over. They had been caught.

They had lost.

* * *

Hubert Oswell was trembling with anger. If he wasn't encased by water that somehow made moving impossible, he didn't know what he would have done. But it would have been painful. Being caught by the one being that he hated like no other and wanted to kill so badly humiliated him to a degree he didn't know was possible. There had been a time when he had hated his brother, a feeling born from envy because he as the first child had always been one that got special treatment. It hadn't helped the matter that Asbel was somebody that easily made friends and was liked by everybody, even though Hubert surpassed him in every aspect.

But this hatred was different. This hatred was born from pure desire for revenge. The mere sight of these deep, calm eyes that betrayed no emotion was enough to make him feel like he was burning with anger.

The sudden appearance of a voice in his head still took him by surprise, but nowhere near as much as any of his companions.

_'You __enter my realm and strive through my lands. You attack my child and slaughter it in my own desert. You posses auras that none of you should have. One of you even has my own. And you attack me, Duplemar, guardian of the Valkines of water. What do you have to say about this?'_

The 'sound' was calm but domineering. The strength and kindness it radiated was nearly enough to to make Hubert question why he fought the dragon. Soon enough, his negative feelings were in control again and he returned to staring at the monster with all the hatred he could muster.

_'Do not waste my time.'_

This time the voice was accompanied with a small earthquake as the right front-leg of the dragon slammed onto the ground. Right then and there Hubert wanted to give him his answer with everything he was thinking about, but the fluid was stopping every sound he made.

_'You need not talk. Think your answer clearly, that will be enough.' _

The barely notable amusement in the voice made the lieutenant shiver in anger. Slowly he closed his eyes and recalled the pictures of all the people he held dear in his heart.

'Natalya, Brayden, Salene, Marian,...'

_'You're not answering my question, human,' _interrupted the voice without any kind of emotion showing, only stating a fact. Slowly the big creature lowered its head, focussing its sight on Hubert with eyes that spoke of complete inner peace and calmness, but also seemed emotionless. This lack of emotion only served to further increase the lieutenant's rage. Not even the depth of its gaze that seemed like he was looking directly at Hubert's soul managed to calm him.

'What do you know about reasons for fighting, dragon? You don't seem that experienced considering I showed you all the people that were dear to me and that you slaughtered on a whim. They are more than enough reason for me to fight you. To fight all of you and your children just to make sure what I experienced doesn't have to be the relived by someone else.'

Though Hubert tried to remain in control, he slowly but surely talked himself into further rage.

'I have suffered so much because of you. I could care less if you had only sent my father to his grave. But my step-mother didn't deserve this! Natalya and Brayden didn't deserve this! They were innocent! They had nothing to do with anything that could have affected you. You killed them anyway. And they were just one of so many other innocent people you murdered. The whole world lies in ruins because of the actions of your kind. Millions have died. And what's most amusing is: Most of them don't even know why!'

The sarcasm in his thoughts reflected the pain he had felt ever since Yu Liberte's destruction.

'What do I have to say? I'm happy that I managed to kill at least one of your brood before it got to another village.'

Hubert was prepared for any reaction he would receive after his words. What he wasn't prepared for was no reaction at all. The eyes of the dragon were still directed at him, still showing a lack of emotional reaction that made Hubert's blood boil, still conveying a myriad of unspoken words in them that the being didn't share. They stared at each other for what felt like an eternity to the lieutenant.

_'You still didn't answer completely. I will ask another question: How can you have a soul from Fodra and the Lastalia?'_

The complete change of topic met the lieutenant unprepared. Souls? Fodra? Lastalia? What was this creature talking about?

After a few moments of silence, the dragon averted its gaze towards Pascal, just to calmly stare at her the same way it had looked at Hubert. The lieutenant's head turned just in time to notice the serious and determined expression in Pascal's face. It was obvious she was talking to the dragon, but what was she saying?

Another moment of silence passed before the telepathic voice of the dragon echoed again through their minds.

_'Are you sure that you can make that deal, Amarcian?'_

She hesitated a moment, then she nodded.

_'So be it. Your friends shall live for another day while we have a nice, long...talk'_

And with these words, the bubbles of water that had imprisoned the group fell to the ground, the water quickly disappearing in the dry sand, leaving behind a drenched and confused Hubert with five equally drenched friends. The moment the water disappeared, the instincts of the group took over again, forcing them to their knees while their bodies seemed to cramp up everywhere to get rid of all the excessive fluid. Hubert could feel the gust of mighty wings as he threw up another load of water. And he could feel the sand swirl up around him, sticking to his wet skin and clothes while he could barely do more than breathe.

He kneeled there for a while, propped up on his hands, fighting for breath while smaller amounts of water still left through his mouth. When he finally managed to stand up he saw a sight that he had feared like no other.

Pascal and the dragon were gone.

* * *

**AN:** I'm really sorry that this chapter took an eternity to upload and that it's shorter than the last one. I will have to slow down the timing in which I release chapters immensely, because my semester just began again and it's eating a tremendous amount of time. Considering that I barely get enough time to read to my hearts content (well, I'm reading the heck out of RebukeX7's stories atm) it's a bit difficult for me to write. Especially when I simply can't get in the swing for writing with all the university stuff floating somewhere around my head. Therefore, please bear with me that this story will take a while. Do not fear, I will not abandon it. One of the reasons I won't is because I simply won't be able to buy another 'Tales of'-game before this is done. I fear I'd lose the focus if I did and re-playing the old thing is simply too much fun.

I ask all of you to watch out for the concept I planned out as background for this story. As I said in the past, I wrote this to fix up all the lose ends in ToG, including why Strahta is a desert with a water Valkines, why Fendel is a continent of ice though there's a fire Valkines, why Lambda doesn't know who he is, what Lambda actually is (I mean, dafuq? Nobody really knows!) what the heck Fodra and the little Queen are, why Lambda's dad told him to go to the Lastalia and what his true goal with the way he treated lambda was and so on and so on. I guess I will make a small explanation-chapter after the epilogue in case it's not too well understood but still: Look out for the moments I present you the expanded background of ToG ^^

Small note to self: Holy guacamole. I actually thought I'd be...dunno, finished with 30% of the story by now... it's more like 15% at the moment. If this goes on like this this story is gonna have like 40 chapters o.O. And if it also goes on like this I'm going to have to write at least three more Oneshots to accompany this story. No you won't find out who Natalya or Brayden are in this story. Those two are planned for another Oneshot, though I bet at least a few of you can guess what their relation to Hubert is.

**Small Update:** I forgot to mention it: I'm starting to assign genders to the guardians. Why? Just imagine for a second how much I'd have to think over the dialogues I will write to avoid using "it" when, for example, Duplemar talks about the other guardians. Or how crappy the dialogues would look like if I didn't. I loved the idea of genderless guardians and I will try to still maintain some of that idea, but I don't feel like putting up with that much work just for the heck of it. That's not worth the time for me. From the outside perspective from Hubert etc. I will still maintain the "it" part because they don't really know anything about genders of the dragons. But the paragraphes from Duplemar/Forbrannir/Gloandi's perspective will be with the gender.

For your interest, the genders will be: Duplemar = male, Forbrannir = male, Gloandi = female.

Anyway, reviews appreciated.


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